Two-horse race for £300,000-a-year governor’s job

The 8.30am deadline passed as it emerged former cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell – viewed by some as a favourite for the job – told the Financial Times he had not applied.

Current deputy governor Paul Tucker and Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Adair Turner are widely held to be the frontrunners for the £300,000-a-year position.

Other applicants in the frame include Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, while unconfirmed reports said Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens had been approached about the job.

A panel including Sir Nicholas Macpherson, permanent secretary to the Treasury, his deputy Tom Scholar and Court of the Bank of England chairman Sir David Lees will now sift through the CVs and conduct interviews before reporting to the Chancellor George Osborne.

The choice of the next governor is viewed as the most important decision Mr Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron will make before the next general election.

Charged with steering the economy through periods of both boom and bust, the Treasury wants “a person of undisputed integrity and standing” to take up Sir Mervyn King’s mantle.

David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, said the role is a “really important job that most people wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole”.

Ahead of the deadline, Lord O’Donnell told the FT he had other priorities after 33 years working in the public sector and would be joining consultancy Frontier Economics as an adviser.

“You need a governor who desperately wants the job and is willing to serve eight years,” he said.