Former minister's independent stance wins over culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, with announcement expected next week
Lord Patten's pitch to win the job of BBC Trust chairman was simple ? give me the job and I will stand up to both the government of the day and the organisation itself, if necessary.
It was exactly what the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wanted to hear ? evidence of strong-minded independence, which would allow him to say "this is not a political appointment" even though Patten is a former Conservative cabinet minister.
Now Patten's name sits with David Cameron for approval ? having been put forward by Hunt ? and insiders said on Friday afternoon that the prime minister's consent was expected to be a formality next week.
That would propel Patten into the �110,000-a-year, four-day a week role at a time when the public broadcaster has just asked for 20% cuts to meet the flat licence fee settlement imposed by the government last year.
Patten ? aged 66 and currently chancellor of Oxford University ? made it clear to both Hunt and an interview panel that he badly wanted the BBC job as the final act in a long career in politics and public life.
But whereas Hunt felt that his predecessor, Sir Michael Lyons, had too cosy a relationship with director general Mark Thompson and the BBC executive, the culture secretary believes Patten would not hesitate to tell BBC bosses where they have got it wrong.
Hunt can also point to rightwing Conservative opposition to Patten as evidence that he has not simply put a Tory forward to a plum job. Many on the right of the party have still not forgiven Patten for his "wet", Europhile politics from the 1980s and early 1990s.
Labour, meanwhile, is not expected to make a fuss. Insiders said yesterday that "it would be churlish" for Labour to oppose an appointment that remains within the government's gift.
Patten's closest rival was Sir Richard Lambert, the former director general of the CBI and one-time editor of the Financial Times. But Lambert cannot have felt too confident about his chances, after choosing to take a month-long holiday in Venice, from which he has now no need to return promptly.
Other candidates were Dame Patricia Hodgson, the principal of Newnham College, Cambridge; Richard Hooper, a former chairman of the Radio Authority; and Anthony Fry, the investment banker.
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Source: http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/media/rss/~3/PJdVclx9--A/lord-patten-bbc-trust-chairman
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