Form Book 12

I wrote in a piece for the BBC's Ariel that there might be some delicate jostling between internal candidates for the DG post, and one could expect press mentions from "insiders" who we really just on one side or another. The Telegraph has rewarded me - and the jostling by "insiders" is actually quite robust.

Today's article says former Chairman Sir Michael Lyons favours a female successor "It would be great if the best candidate is a woman. I wouldn’t want to compromise on the criteria [just to have a woman].”

Then it speculates on Helen Boaden, director of BBC News Group, saying according to sources at the corporation [she] has already embarked on an internal PR campaign to secure her post.

“She has started copying senior management into emails, where she wouldn’t have before, expressing her views on strategic issues that are not part of her direct remit. It feels like she is auditioning,” an insider said. A separate source close to the BBC, however, denied she was campaigning for the position. Another source said she was well-suited to the role. “People like her because she speaks her mind. She’s tough in areas like cost-cutting, but she also trusts her lieutenants and she has strong editorial judgment. She’s good at spotting and pre-empting problems.”

The Telegraph goes on: Ms Thomson is the most senior internal candidate but is an unpopular choice among staff because she does not have a production background. “She is a very old-fashioned, BBC blue stocking type. She’s seen as too posh,” one source said.

One BBC, eh ?