Beeb swaps Sir Michael for .. Sir Michael

CULTURE Secretary Tessa Jowell today confirmed the appointment of Sir Michael Lyons as the new chairman of the BBC.

The 57-year-old is a controversial replacement for Sir Michael Grade, who defected to run ITV, as he has little or no broadcasting experience. And critics are concerned that he is too close to Chancellor Gordon Brown, for whom he recently completed a major report on the council tax system.

In a written statement to MPs, Mrs Jowell said that the Queen had approved the £140,000-a-year appointment with effect from May 1 for four years.

Sir Michael, a Professor of Public Policy at Birmingham University, spent three years on the council tax review which proposed an upper band for homes worth more than £2 million in England and a low band for the cheapest homes which was shelved by Mr Brown. He was a street market trader from 1970 to 1972 before becoming chief executive of three city councils in the English Midlands.