16 Chairmen of the BBC

Sir Francis Christopher Buchan Bland was a British businessman and politician. He was deputy chairman of the Independent Television Authority (1972), which was renamed the Independent Broadcasting Authority in the same year, and chairman of London Weekend Television (1984) and of the Board of Governors of the BBC, when he took up a position as chairman of British Telecommunications plc (BT). He left his position with BT in September 2007. Before leaving BT, he became chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 2004.

Sir Alexander Montagu George Cadogan was a British diplomat and civil servant. He was Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1938 to 1946. His long tenure of the Permanent Secretary's office makes him one of the central figures of British policy before and during the Second World War. His diaries are a source of great value and give a sharp sense of the man and his life. Like most senior officials at the Foreign Office, he was bitterly critical of the appeasement policies of the 1930s but admitted that until British rearmament was better advanced, there were few other options. In particular, he stressed that without an American commitment to joint defence against Japan, Britain would be torn between the eastern and western spheres. Conflict with Germany would automatically expose Britain's Asian Empire to Japanese aggression.

George Herbert Hyde Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon, KG GCMG GCVO PC DL, styled Lord Hyde from 1877 to 1914, was a British Conservative politician from the Villiers family. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1931 to 1937.

Diane Coyle is an economist and a former advisor to the UK Treasury. She was vice-chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and was a member of the UK Competition Commission from 2001 until 2019. Since March 2018, she has been the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, co-directing the Bennett Institute.

Gavyn Davies, OBE is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004. On 28 January 2004 he announced that he was resigning his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry report which heavily criticised the organisation.

Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead is a Conservative life peer and businesswoman. She served as Minister of State at the Department for International Trade from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, she was the last Chairman of the BBC Trust before its abolition and the first woman to hold the post.

Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1988–1997), chairman of the BBC (2004–2006), and executive chairman of ITV plc (2007–2009). Since 2011, he has been a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords.

Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton, PC was a British physician and medical spokesman, radio speaker, member of parliament, government minister and broadcasting executive.

Ronald Collet Norman JP was a banker, administrator and politician. He was chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1935 to 1939 and of the London County Council from 1918 to 1919.

Norman Craven Brook, 1st Baron Normanbrook,, known as Sir Norman Brook between 1946 and 1964, was a British civil servant. He was Cabinet Secretary between 1947 and 1962 as well as joint permanent secretary to HM Treasury and head of the Home Civil Service from 1956 to 1962.

Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life peer in 2005 and has been Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 2003.

Joseph Albert Pease, 1st Baron Gainford, known as Jack Pease, was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was a member of H. H. Asquith's Liberal cabinet between 1910 and 1916 and also served as Chairman of the BBC between 1922 and 1926.

Richard Andrew Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum, is a British Conservative Party politician. A former Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister, he was made a life peer in 1997 and was a member of the House of Lords from 1997 to 2021.

Ernest Emil Darwin Simon, 1st Baron Simon of Wythenshawe was a British industrialist, politician and public servant. Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1921–1922, he was a member of parliament for two terms between 1923 and 1931 before being elevated to the peerage and serving as the Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors.

Michael Meredith Swann, Baron Swann, FRS, FRSE was a British molecular and cell biologist. He was appointed chairman of the BBC, awarded a knighthood and subsequently a life peerage.

John Henry Whitley, often known as J. H. Whitley, was a British politician and Georgist. He was the final Liberal to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, a role he held from 1921 to 1928.