THE BBC executive who backed Andrew Gilligan’s reporting during the David Kelly affair has won the coveted job of Controller of Radio 4.

Mark Damazer, the deputy director of BBC news, prepared the corporation’s defence before the Hutton inquiry and worked closely with Greg Dyke.

He saw off a challenge from Roger Mosey, the BBC’s head of television news, to take one of the most important positions in British broadcasting.

His appointment signalled a renewed determination within the BBC to back investigative reporting, however controversial, despite the resignations which rocked the corporation in January.

Mr Damazer takes over the Sony UK Station of the Year, with an audience of 9.5 million listeners who are highly sensitive to changes in Radio 4’s schedules and tone.

His first task will be to restore confidence in the Today programme, which has lost 300,000 listeners over the past year.

He will also consider how far to push the populist strategy of his predecessor Helen Boaden, who attracted record ratings with explicit episodes of Book at Bedtime and a “sexed-up” Archers. Ms Boaden was promoted to become the BBC’s first female director of news.

An opera fan with a Harvard fellowship and a double first in history from Cambridge, Mr Damazer, 49, is regarded as one of the brightest intellects within the BBC.

He was chosen by Jenny Abramsky, the BBC’s director of radio, and Mark Thompson, the Director-General, for the Radio 4 job.

Ms Abramsky said: “Mark is a passionate listener and supporter of Radio 4. When you talk to him you realise it’s in his blood.”

His rivals suspected that Mr Damazer’s involvement in the Kelly affair could hinder his BBC career.

He drafted the initial response to Alastair Campbell’s complaint over the Gilligan report on Iraq’s weapons together with Mr Dyke. During the ensuing dispute, Mr Damazer said critics of Mr Gilligan’s reporting were relying on “semantic differences”.

Mr Gilligan said that Mr Damazer had described Lord Hutton’s critical report as the “go-down-the-pub option — almost a relief, since anything so biased could legitimately be disagreed with by the BBC”.

However, an internal investigation into the BBC’s editorial practices during the Hutton affair produced no criticisms of Mr Damazer.

During the Kelly affair, Mr Damazer’s decision to use explicit footage of two British soldiers killed in Iraq in a BBC Two Correspondent programme was criticised by the BBC governors.

The footage, shot by al-Jazeera, was used despite protests from Downing Street and the dead men’s families.

Mr Damazer, who joined the BBC in 1984, was previously head of current affairs. He has been charged with engaging more young people in the BBC’s political programming at the next election.

He also takes control of the BBC7 digital radio speech channel.

• Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, the presenting duo known as Ant and Dec, have signed a £6.5 million three-year deal to work exclusively for ITV.

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