Public to be given say in picking next poet laureate

London: Asking the public has worked for Pop Idol, X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing - now the process faces a sterner test: helping to choose a new poet laureate.

Ministers will announce changes this week to the selection process for the post, previously held by Sir John Betjeman and Ted Hughes. In a break with tradition, ordinary poetry readers will be encouraged to play a major part.

Andrew Motion's 10 years as poet laureate come to an end next year and the Government is keen to introduce more democracy into the choice of his successor.

Ministers admit to being impressed by the way popular TV programmes such as Pop Idol manage to galvanise huge audiences into backing their favourites.

They add, however, that they will not ape "exact voting processes" that pick a winner after candidates are eliminated one by one in a series of telephone votes.

Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, will begin the new selection process today.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: "We want to canvass opinion from academics, from writers and from the public on what the poet laureate's job should be. What should they build on in the next period? What should the priority be?

"We're talking to the relevant bodies but we want to hear the views of everybody about what we can do - particularly to enthuse young people about poetry and the written word."

The final decision will still be taken by the Queen acting on the Government's advice, a process described by Burnham as "very formal."

However, the public will have a major input for the first time into the post, which carries an annual salary of £5,000 (Dh27,307).

Although there is no formal job description, poets laureate traditionally compose verse for the Royal family and to mark national events.

In September, Motion, 56, sparked controversy by claiming his decade in the post had left him with a bad case of writer's block. He later relented and said he had largely found the job "extremely enjoyable."