UK Sport chair Baroness Sue Campbell is hopeful that her successor is an individual with "real passion, drive and commitment" to elite sport as she prepares to set down next month.

Campbell is set to step down after 10 years as UK Sport chair having reached the maximum term in line with requirements set for public appointments.

The Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is currently conducting the search for Campbell's replacement and Campbell is hopeful they will be able to continue the good work at UK Sport after the agency helped Britain finish in third place on the medal table at both the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

"I wouldn't say there is a specific name I would like to see named as the new chair of UK Sport," Campbell told insidethegames.

"But what I do want to see is somebody with real passion, drive and commitment to developing elite sport in the UK.

"Most importantly, the new chair must be able to support the excellent staff, which they are, at UK Sport.

"But it is a decision that gets made away from me."

Campbell has been widely credited leading the transformation of elite sport in the UK, which was highlighted with the performance of Team GB at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, where they finished fourth and third respectively in the overall medals table.

But Campbell, who is also chair of the Youth Sport Trust, has praised the strong team in place at UK Sport for helping her achieve such success.

"I've been blessed with very good people around me at UK Sport.

"I had John Steele [now Youth Sport Trust chief executive] and now Liz Nicholl as UK chief executives in my time and a very strong senior leadership team.

"I think we have taken a strong stance in our decisions which we believe is the right way in investing in high performance sport.

"Our investments have been strategic investments, not just giving money away.

"I think that strategic investment is why there has been growing excellence across the vast majority of Olympic and Paralympic sports.

"I think that also means we have a very exciting future for high performance sport.

"We also shouldn't forget the great work Simon Morton and his team are doing leading major events.

"We have become one of the most successful nations in the world at winning major events, which has been very hard earned over the last 10 years.

"We have done in extremely well in partnership with a large number of organisations.

"So I leave feeling there is a great team in place, a great sense of clear purpose and a really strong investment strategy with a track record of delivering.

"So I think the future is very good at that level of British sport."

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz