By 1996 I had spent more than four years as a Governor, and had taken the opportunity to reflect on the role and functions of our Board. I was, therefore, delighted to be invited by Peter Hennessy, the doyen of contemporary British history, to speak at a London University seminar (earlier organised by A. J. P. Taylor) on the subject of BBC governance. I chose for my talk the title ‘The BBC Governors: Past, Present and Future’.

I had long been interested in questions of governance in various complex public or private sector organisations. I had come to appreciate that the mere title of Governor did not of itself pin down with any great precision the nature and extent of the powers and influence to be enjoyed by its holder. One needed to look no further than the history and development of Empire and Commonwealth to appreciate that, at different times and in different situations, the Governor of a particular territory might find a place at any point along a spectrum between the exercise of near-absolute power and a constricted and largely ceremonial position.

In the case of the BBC I felt I could identify at least four sets of influences bearing upon the position of its Governors. There was, first of all, what one might call the legal framework, largely embodied in successive Royal Charters. Second, one had to consider what one might call the ‘case law’ of the BBC; the steady accretion of custom and practice in its governance, building up over time to well-established conventions.