British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe "will not become the next chairman of the BBC Trust, despite being the Government’s preferred candidate," according to Charles Sale of the London DAILY MAIL. Coe "decided to withdraw his candidacy before the interview stage," so that he can bid to become president of the Int'l Association of Athletics Federations next year. BBC economics editor Robert Peston once described him as "a virtual shoo-in" for the top job." Coe was also the preferred candidate of U.K. PM David Cameron, but it is now believed Cameron "is hoping for a woman to succeed" former BBC Trust Chair Chris Patten. Coe said, "On reflection, I haven’t the capacity and I now want to concentrate on my current commitments and the IAAF election. As everyone knows, athletics is in my DNA." One of the "new favourites for the top BBC job" is former Pearson CEO and Twitter’s first female board member Marjorie Scardino. Conservative peer Patience Wheatcroft and crossbencher and former BBC governor Sarah Hogg "have also been mooted as candidates." If either are chosen, "it would be the first time a woman has headed the trust" (DAILY MAIL, 7/28). In London, Mark Sweney wrote the government "is understood to have drawn up a shortlist of five candidates for first-round interviews that will take place later this week" (GUARDIAN, 7/29).
