The Professor of Poetry Committee produces a shortlist of applicants to stand for election by members of the University of Oxford's Convocation.
On 16 May 2009, Ruth Padel defeated the Indian poet Arvind Mehrotra to become the first woman elected to the post since its inception in 1708.
[5] After her election, two journalists who had previously requested information from Padel regarding voters' opinions revealed that she had cited to them the source of some people's unease about the suitability for appointment of someone with such a university record.
Perhaps it was unwise of her to email journalists but if Walcott's past is 'irrelevant to his suitability to fill the post of Professor of Poetry', so is Padel's 'unwisdom'.
"[14] American commentators attributed the series of events to an assumption on the part of academics and writers that a gender war was behind it all,[15] perceiving a "split across the Atlantic - with the Americans, the ones after all working with Walcott over the decades, taking those claims much more seriously"[16][17] Some commentators in Britain supported Padel, attributing the smear campaign in the media to misogyny[6] and networking.
[18][19] On Newsnight Review the poet Simon Armitage and poetry writer Josephine Hart expressed regret about Padel's resignation.
[21] On 7 May 2010, the university, having changed its system of voting to embrace online voters, confirmed that Paula Claire, Geoffrey Hill, Michael Horovitz, Steve Larkin, Chris Mann and seven others had been nominated as candidates for the position.
[22] Paula Claire, the only woman standing, announced her withdrawal on 7 June 2010, citing concerns about the fairness of the election, which were dismissed by the university authorities.