When the BBC’s Board of Governors appointed Sir Alan Budd to review the corporation’s business coverage, they must have known that it was not going to be an easy ride.

The same academic and economist ended David Blunkett’s career with his damning report on the former Home Secretary’s involvement in fast-tracking the visa of his former lover’s nanny. Sir Alan’s inquiries uncovered a fax and e-mail at Mr Blunkett’s offices showing that, despite his denials, his officials had discussed the case of Kimberly Quinn’s nanny with immigration officers. Mr Blunkett subsequently resigned.

The 69-year-old had sharpened his knives with a series of tough roles. He was chief economic adviser at the Treasury when Britain crashed out of the European exchange rate mechanism – something that he maintains was good for the British economy.

When Gordon Brown moved into the Treasury, rather than retiring Sir Alan became one of the first members of the newly independent Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. He no longer serves at the Bank but sits on The Times’s own MPC.

Another controversial role was his chairmanship of the Gambling Review Body, which led to the liberalisation of Britain’s gaming laws.

The London School of Economics and Cambridge graduate has been typically incisive in his review of the BBC’s business coverage, in which he uncovered a number of breaches of the corporation’s own standards of impartiality.

BBC presenters’ interviews were sychophantic or overly aggressive, he said, while some appeared to plug individual products.

Sir Alan is the provost of The Queen’s College, University of Oxford, and a senior adviser to Credit Suisse, the investment bank. He is married to Susan and has three sons – Joel, Nathaniel and Saul. When not working, he is a keen gardener and can be spotted in the Reform Club.