Hogan Lovells consultant Simon Polito has been appointed as one of three new deputy chairmen of the UK's Competition Commission.

Polito, who is based in Hogan Lovells's City base, is a member of the firm's antitrust, competition and economic regulation practice. He was a partner at legacy Lovells for 26 years, and led the firm's EU and competition law practice from 2001 to 2004.

He also ran for the Lovells senior partner role in 2001, an election which eventually saw Andrew Walker appointed for a new term.

Polito takes up the deputy chairman role alongside economists Martin Cave and Alasdair Smith. The appointment, which will run from January 2012 to December 2014, is a part-time role.

The Competition Commission, which was established by the Competition Act 1998, carries out in-depth investigations into mergers, markets and regulation of the major regulated industries.

Competition Commission chairman Roger Whitcomb said: "I am delighted to welcome three such high calibre people as deputy chairmen. Their appointment underlines that one of the key strengths of the Commission is its ability to attract eminent people with a broad range of experience and expertise in competition issues.

"They will help us to maintain the quality of our investigations into important markets and mergers, and will have a great contribution to make to the Government's planned reforms to the competition regime."

The Government last year confirmed that the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission are to merge, with the move coming as part of Coalition's move to streamline the work of public bodies – a policy dubbed 'the bonfire of the quangos'.