Continuity candidate omitted from shortlist for BBC Trust job

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/22/diana-coyle-omitted-bbc-trust-shortlist

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The leading internal candidate to replace Lord Patten as BBC Trust chair, Diane Coyle, has not made the government's interview shortlist for the job.

The Guardian understands that five candidates will be interviewed for the £110,000-a-year part-time job next week, with Lord Coe said to be the favoured choice of the prime minister, David Cameron, and the chancellor, George Osborne.

Coe has described the post as a "very meaty job" and indicated that he would think carefully about applying. He was out of the country on Tuesday and could not be contacted for comment.

Coyle, the economist and former journalist who took charge of the trust following the sudden departure of Patten in May, is one of the few candidates known to have applied for the job. However, she has told colleagues that she has not made the interview shortlist.

Her omission will be regarded as a surprise at a time when the lack of women at the BBC, both on-air and in senior roles behind the scenes, has come under the spotlight.

Regarded as a continuity candidate, her absence may also be seen as a sign of the government's intention to implement a complete overhaul of the function and scope of the trust.

Others tipped as possible candidates include Martyn Rose, an entrepreneur who was appointed chairman of the English National Opera last year. Potential female contenders include Dame Marjorie Scardino, the former chief executive of the Financial Times owner Pearson; Lady Wheatcroft, the Conservative peer and former editor of the European edition of the Wall Street Journal; and Lady Hogg, a crossbencher who was once John Major's Downing Street policy chief and is a former BBC governor.

The interviews will be conducted by a panel led by the cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, the former BBC and ITV executive Carolyn Fairbairn and the independent peer Lord Kakkar.

This will be followed by a further round of interviews in which all the "appointable" candidates will meet the culture secretary, Sajid Javid. He will then choose a preferred candidate who will appear before the Commons culture, media and sport select committee headed by the Tory MP John Whittingdale. Only then will the government make its final decision.

The successful candidate is likely to have to accept the need for substantial reform of the trust and its possible abolition after next year's general election.

The trust has endured sustained criticism for its role in multimillion-pound payoffs by the BBC, the £100m Digital Media Initiative fiasco and the continued fallout from the Jimmy Savile scandal.