The Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Christopher Patten, has been tipped for a prestigious position in the BBC.
Patten, 66, has been named in reports as the favourite to be appointed BBC Trust Chairman. His name is currently waiting for approval from David Cameron, but according to insiders, the Prime Minister’s consent is expected to be a formality.
Patten was nominated for the position by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. In his pitch, he made it clear that he wanted the job as a final act in politics and public life.
The University Press Office said, “the Chancellor is usually an eminent public figure elected for life and serves as the titular head of the University, presiding over all major ceremonies.”
Lord Patten was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Bath between 1979 and 1992. From 1989 he held a position in the Cabinet.
His current position at Oxford is part time, and until 2009 he also combined the role with the Chancellorship of Newcastle University.
The BBC role, also part time, currently has a salary of £142,800 a year.
The Trust Chairman is head of 12 Trustees, who represent the public who pay for the BBC. On the BBC website it is stated that “the Trust makes sure the BBC is run in the public interest and in the interests of licence fee payers.”
All Trustees, including the Chairman, are appointed by the Queen on advice from Ministers after an open selection process.
Other candidates for the position were Dame Patricia Hodgson, the principal of Newnham College, Cambridge; Richard Hooper, a former chairman of the Radio Authority; investment banker Anthony Fry; and Sir Richard Lambert, former Director General of the CBI and a previous editor of the Financial Times.
It has been reported that Lambert was Patten’s main rival.
