The FT gives a taste of the ad that will appear in Sunday newspapers, inviting applicants for the vacant Chairmanship of the BBC.  It reads, in part:

Ministers have made getting on with the government an essential requirement for the new chairman of the BBC, as they seek to rebuild their relationship with the public service broadcaster.

Having the "credibility to act as an effective link between the BBC, government and parliament" is a crucial part of the job description in the advert for the post to be published tomorrow.

The government wants to draw a line under its feud with the corporation following the Hutton inquiry's damning verdict on the BBC.

But headhunters say the £81,320 salary on offer for the four-day-a-week post will fail to attract heavyweight candidates.

"The chairman of the BBC should be receiving about £300,000 a year," said one recruitment consultant in the media industry. "The old level cuts out many of the City executives who might consider it."

Sir Christopher Bland, Gavyn Davies' predecessor as BBC chairman, received a basic salary of £500,000 last year as chairman of BT.

The BBC notice, which is to be published in three Sunday newspapers, asks: "Could you be chairman of the BBC?" The chairman, it says, "will lead the BBC governors at a difficult and challenging time for the corporation" with an "immediate need" to respond to the conclusions of the Hutton report.

Applicants must also have "strong leadership vision and strategic skills" and a "commitment to public service broadcasting".