Nearly 80 people have applied for the job of the new BBC chairman, the department of media, culture and sport said.

The 79 applications received is four times higher than the 19 received when the job was advertised three years ago.

High-profile candidates rumoured to be interested include Michael Portillo, former Tory MP; Anthony Smith, president of Magdalen College and a founder of channel 4; Patricia Hodgson, the former Independent TV chief; and Richard Lambert, the ex-editor of the bankers paper the Financial Times.

The previous incumbent, Gavyn Davies, resigned from his position in the wake of the Hutton Report. Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, said she hoped the new chairman would be appointed by the middle of April.