BBC chairman Richard Sharp
(Picture: PA Media)BBC chairman Richard Sharp was facing growing pressure to quit on Monday as a former TV news chief said the storm was leaving a “bad smell” hanging over the corporation.
The remarks from former ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis came after a committee of MPs strongly criticised Mr Sharp for a “significant error of judgment” in failing to disclose his involvement in “the facilitation” of an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson while he was PM.
Mr Purvis told LBC it was striking that the Government was not “standing up for Mr Sharp”. He added: “The issue is: is Richard Sharp now a credible, impartial chair of the BBC given what’s been revealed?
“To have a chairman of the BBC, who was involved to the extent that he now finally admits he was, I think it’s a bad look, it’s a bad smell.”
A spokesperson for Mr Sharp declined to comment on Mr Purvis’s remarks.
Mr Sharp has said he will not resign and his future may now depend on whether he retains the confidence of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has the ultimate power to hire and fire the chair of the corporation.
However, Downing Street is likely to wait for the findings of an independent inquiry by the public appointments watchdog, being led by lawyer Adam Heppinstall KC. He is looking into whether the appointment process was conducted in line with the Government’s code for public appointments.
Mr Sharp, who was appointed BBC chair in February 2021, strongly denies any wrongdoing and says he played no role in arranging the loan which was guaranteed by Mr Johnson’s distant cousin, the Canadian businessman Sam Blyth. He insists that while he did connect Mr Blyth with Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, he “pro-actively” briefed the head of the civil service that he was applying for the role of BBC chair before recusing himself from the matter.
But the row is threatening to become a major distraction for Mr Sunak as he tries to close Labour’s 20-point lead in the polls and focus his administration on tackling the cost-of-living crisis, NHS waiting lists and illegal migration.
Labour peer Baroness Angela Smith said Mr Sharp should now consider whether he was “acting in the best interest of the BBC?”, adding it was damaging not only to politicians but also to the national broadcaster.
And former BBC executive Marcus Ryder said the perception of the BBC around the world had been “tainted” by the on-going saga.
He said: “I have worked in China, I have worked in Malaysia and one of the things you had to put across was that the BBC was a national broadcaster, not a state broadcaster or a voicepiece of the British Government.
“It is so important the BBC continues to be a national broadcaster and not a voice of the Government or seen as propaganda for the British Government. That’s difficult enough when you’re in China or somewhere like that and this current issue of the closeness of the chair and the former PM makes it even more difficult.”
Although the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee does not have the power to order the removal of Mr Sharp, its stinging rebuke at the weekend has left him battling for his job.
Tory MP and former minister Damian Green MP, acting chair for the committee, said: “The public appointments process can only work effectively if everyone is open and transparent, yet Richard Sharp chose not to tell either the appointment panel or our committee about his involvement in the facilitation of a loan to Boris Johnson.
“Such a significant error of judgment meant we were not in the full possession of the facts when we were required to rule on his suitability for the role of BBC chair.”
Mr Sharp’s spokesperson said he “appreciates that there was information that the committee felt that it should have been made aware of in his pre-appointment hearing. He regrets this and apologises.”
He added: “Mr Sharp would like to apologise again to the BBC’s brilliant staff given the distraction it has caused. He is proud of the work the board has done driving positive change at the BBC over the last two years, and very much looks forward to continuing that work.”
