By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Chairman of BBC, Richard Sharp on Friday announced his exit from office after a report found him guilty of flouting the rule of his appointment.
He was indicted for breaching a public appointment rule by failing to declare his connection to a secret £800,000 loan made to former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
An investigation by the commissioner of public appointments concluded Sharp broke the rules by failing to declare his link to Johnson’s loan, creating a “potential perceived conflict of interest”.
The investigation also found that Johnson personally approved Sharp’s appointment as BBC chair, while the individuals running the supposedly independent recruitment process for the job had already been informed that Sharp was the only candidate whom the government would support.
Although this breach of the rules does not necessarily invalidate an appointment, Sharp said his position was no longer tenable and he had to quit.
He intends to step down in June, enabling a successor to be appointed by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
Earlier this year, the Sunday Times revealed that Sharp had secretly helped an acquaintance, Sam Blyth, who wanted to offer an £800,000 personal loan guarantee for Johnson. The prime minister’s personal finances were in poor shape while he was in Downing Street with his new wife, Carrie, and baby son, and was going through an expensive divorce.
The Times reports that Sharp decided to introduce Blyth to Simon Case, the head of the civil service, so they could discuss a potential loan.
The BBC chair insists he took no further role and there is no evidence “to say I played any part whatsoever in the facilitation, arrangement, or financing of a loan for the former prime minister”.
He added that he did not realise he had to declare the introduction during the recruitment process for the BBC job, saying: “I have always maintained the breach was inadvertent.”
Labour’s Lucy Powell said the incident had “caused untold damage to the reputation of the BBC and seriously undermined its independence as a result of the Conservatives’ sleaze and cronyism”.
She added: “Rishi Sunak should urgently establish a truly independent and robust process to replace Sharp to help restore the esteem of the BBC after his government has tarnished it so much.”
