Blair's former right-hand man Jonathan Powell in bid to run BBC Trust

By Brendan Carlin for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 20:52 EST, 11 December 2010

Allies: Tony Blair's former adviser Jonathan Powell has applied to become the chairman of The BBC Trust

The man described as Tony Blair’s ‘echo’ and closest adviser in government is bidding to oversee the BBC, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Jonathan Powell, the ex-diplomat heavily implicated in Mr Blair’s controversial decision to go to war with Iraq, has applied to be the next chairman of the BBC Trust, the body that polices the Corporation.

Last night, Coalition sources revealed that Mr Powell, who recently published a guide to government inspired by 16th Century political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, was a ‘serious contender’ for what is one of the most powerful posts in British broadcasting.

But the prospect dismayed some Tory MPs convinced that the Corporation has an ‘institutional Left-wing bias’. They urged David Cameron, who will take the final decision, to reject Mr Powell’s bid.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said last night: ‘The last person we should have overseeing the BBC over the next few years is a man mired in the mistakes and Machiavellian machinations of the Blair Government. Mr Powell’s application should be stamped “rejected” and posted straight back to him.’

The plum post would give Mr Blair’s former right-hand man the hugely influential role of being both BBC watchdog and champion.

It became vacant after current chairman Sir Michael Lyons decided to stand down next May amid reports his relationship with the Government was deteriorating.
Along with Alastair Campbell,

Mr Powell, 54, was one of Mr Blair’s most trusted advisers during his time in power. Unlike Mr Campbell, however, he served throughout Mr Blair’s years in No 10, leaving only when his boss did in June 2007.

So close was he to the ex-Prime Minister that Peter Mandelson once described him as ‘Tony’s echo’.

He was heavily implicated in the decision to go to war in Iraq and the so-called ‘dodgy dossier’.

Hot seat: Jonathan Powell giving evidence before Sir John Chilcot's panel during the Iraq Inquiry

Although Mr Blair was controversially cleared by the Hutton Inquiry of ‘sexing up’ the dossier, it revealed that before the document was published in September 2002, Mr Powell emailed John Scarlett, the former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, acknowledging there was no evidence in the dossier of any ‘imminent threat’ from Iraq.

He was then part of the No 10 team that successfully faced down BBC claims that the dossier was beefed up – a dispute that eventually led to the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly after he was unmasked as the source of the story.

This January, in evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, Mr Powell admitted the dossier should never have been published, saying: ‘Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. We were wrong. The intelligence was wrong.’

He borrowed from his years at Mr Blair’s side to publish The New Machiavelli: How To Wield Power In The Modern World in October.

The recruitment decision is taken by Mr Cameron, on advice from Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and a panel including Jonathan Stephens, the permanent secretary at Mr Hunt’s department. Other candidates include ex-Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Patten. Interviews will take place next month.

Mr Powell was last night unavailable for comment.