Richard Sharp has resigned as BBC chairman after the publication of a report examining his appointment to the role.

The Telegraph takes a look at the runners and riders to replace Mr Sharp.

Sir Nicholas Serota

Sir Nicholas was director of the Tate for almost 20 years. He is currently a member of the Board of the BBC, as well as the chairman of Arts Council England.

During his two-decade stint at the Tate, he was widely seen as the man who made Britain love modern art through the expansion of the brand to Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and Tate Modern.

However, his time in charge of Arts Council England has not been free from controversy, partly stemming from a drastic round of funding changes including swinging cuts to opera. It has also faced accusations of pursuing a "Left-wing, woke agenda".

Muriel Gray

Muriel Gray, currently the BBC Board member representing Scotland, is reportedly a popular choice in the Corporation.

A former broadcaster, she made her name as a presenter of The Tube, a music programme on Channel 4, and was a regular stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4 in the late 1980s.

Ms Gray is the only woman to have been Rector of the University of Edinburgh. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow in 2013, and has also sat on the board of numerous charities.

Sir Damon Buffini

A veteran of the City of London, Sir Damon Buffini was appointed as deputy chairman of the BBC last year as it grappled with questions over its future funding model.

Sir Damon, one of the best-known private equity names in the early 2000s, was hailed by the Corporation for his "vast expertise and expertise", with a view to delivering "significant and sustained commercial growth".

He clashed with trade union leaders after signing off job cuts at companies including Birds Eye and the AA after the financial crash.

Sir Robbie Gibb

Sir Robbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board as a non-executive director and its member for England in 2021.

He previously had a 25-year career at the Corporation before entering politics, serving as director of communications at 10 Downing Street under Theresa May.

The year before his appointment, he wrote for The Telegraph attacking "narrow political group-think" at the BBC as well as "jaw-droppingly biased" content in its dramas, adding: "The BBC has drifted too far from its core values and the people it serves."

Last year, Sir Robbie was accused by former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis of being an "active agent of the Conservative Party" in comments that Mr Sharp branded "completely wrong".

Shumeet Banerji

Another non-executive director of the BBC, Mr Banerji is the founder of the investment firm Concordet, LP, which focuses on early opportunities to develop technology companies.

He is also on the board of Reliance Industries, one of India's biggest mobile phone networks. In 2018, he dismissed concern about the spread of fake news on WhatsApp in the country as "metropolitan condescension".