That’s a blow for the theory of nominative determinism. Richard Sharp was terribly dim when it came to realising that he could not possibly continue as chair of the BBC. A magician he may have been at making money at Goldman Sachs, and a wizard operator at forging political connections, and some at the broadcaster thought him a capable chair, but he was a fool to think that he could somehow ride out the storm. When he finally announced his resignation on Friday, departing with some chaff about not wanting to be a “distraction”, this was long after it was obvious that he was fatally compromised. “It was inevitable,” says a former Conservative cabinet minister. “Everyone could see how this was going to end,” comments a senior Labour frontbencher. Not just one, but two, damning investigations found against him.
The first finding, produced some weeks ago by the Commons select committee which covers the media, concluded that he made “significant errors of judgment” when he failed to reveal that he had helped to facilitate a secret personal loan for Boris Johnson when he was still at Number 10. That made a mockery of the appointments process because it denied vital information to those scrutinising it. The second report, by Adam Heppinstall KC for the public appointments commissioner, was unequivocal that he unambiguously breached the governance code.
