Former culture secretary Nicky Morgan emerges as early front-runner to chair BBC

Former Tory Cabinet minister Baroness Morgan has emerged as an early frontrunner to chair the BBC, although any appointment has been pushed back so the Government can advertise the job.

Lady Morgan, who as Nicky Morgan MP was Culture Secretary until February this year, is understood to have been one of two candidates informally approached for the £100,000-a-year job.

Number 10 denied claims that an announcement was due to have been made later this month. However, that has now been delayed until the autumn so it can be advertised.

Oliver Dowden, Lady Morgan's successor as Culture Secretary, returns to his desk on Monday from a holiday in the UK and the appointment is said to be "at the top of his in-tray".

Government sources said they now expected the appointment to replace Sir David Clementi (who stands down in February) in October, around the time of the 'virtual' Conservative party conference.

Sources said Lady Morgan is one of two favourites for the role. Another candidate is said to come from the tech sector and could appeal to the Government if they're able to find alternative funding models to the licence fee.

A source said: "Number 10 has to decide if they want someone who will bash a few heads together, or somebody who is going to nudge things along but not necessarily do it confrontationally.

"Number 10 is obsessed with the tech people so it could be someone with a tech digital background, somebody who comes in from outside, a different sector, different background."

The Royal Charter states that the appointment of the chairman may only be made “following a fair and open competition”.

It says that the Secretary of State must consult the BBC on the process for appointing the chairman, including on the job specification.

However, the job has yet to be advertised publicly and it is understood that the corporation has not been provided with a timeline.

The search for a new candidate has to be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, a lengthy process which involves a selection panel shortlisting candidates and conducting interviews before preparing a report on the preferred candidate and submitting it to the Culture Secretary.

A female chairman is a strong possibility as the Government has a Diversity Action Plan which includes the ambition that by 2022 half of all new appointees to public roles should be women.

Lady Morgan will be a popular choice with Tim Davie, the corporation's new director general, who replaces Lord Hall of Birkenhead next month. The pair worked together and she was at the culture department.

Amber Rudd, the former Tory Home secretary and prominent Remainer, who was sounded out by headhunters for the director general job, is expected to apply to the chairman role.

One source said that while Baroness Morgan, who was an early supporter of Mr Johnson for the Tory leadership, was a favourite she also voted Remain.

The source said: "Love him or loathe him, we know what Boris feels about the BBC. It is the same as what he feels about the EU. He is going to find a male Brexit mate [for the job]."

Another source warned that a soft left Conservative candidate like Baroness Morgan or Ms Rudd "would go native within a month" and become a "status quo chairman".

Other Brexiteers who could be in the running include Sir Robbie Gibb, a former BBC executive and an ex-director of communications at 10 Downing Street or Dan Hannan, the former Tory MEP, who missed out on a peerage in last month's list of 36 new members of the House of Lords.

Separately, Andrew Neil, the BBC presenter and chairman of The Spectator, has also been mooted.