BBC Chairman Richard Sharp resigned after breaking the rules regarding his interactions with ex-UK PM Boris Johnson prior to his own appointment.
According to a report, Sharp happened to create a conflict of interest by not fully reporting his familiarity with the former PM’s personal finances. After it became known that he attempted to arrange a high-level government meeting for a businessman offering Johnson financial assistance, his position came under scrutiny.
Sharp justified his actions but said that he didn’t want to cause a disturbance.
After months of rumours regarding Sharp’s position and a dispute over BBC independence, a damning study led by attorney Adam Heppinstall was released on Friday.
The investigation started as a result of revelations in the Sunday Times, a British newspaper, that Sharp, a close friend of Johnson, had some involvement with the PM’s personal finances at the same time that he was vying for a high position at the BBC.
After reading press reports that the PM was having financial difficulties, Sharp, in the later half of 2020, attempted to set up a meeting between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Johnson who had extended help to assist the PM financially.
When he approached Case, the former investment banker and Conservative Party supporter had already submitted an application for the senior BBC position and was hired a few months later.
Findings of report
According to the report, he failed to disclose two prospective conflicts of interest: first, by telling Johnson he wanted to apply for the BBC position before doing so; and second, by telling the Prime Minister he intended to arrange a meeting between Case, the nation’s top civil servant, and Blyth.
The report notes that while Sharp has expressed regret for the second inference, which he has labelled “inadvertent and not material,” he does not agree with the first conclusion.
According to the investigation, “there is a risk of a perception that Mr. Sharp was recommended for appointment” because he attempted to help the PM with a personal financial difficulty, “and/or that he influenced the former prime minister to recommend him by informing him of his application before he submitted it”.
Despite the fact that the meeting between Case and Blyth was postponed, the report concluded that his involvement in Johnson’s personal finances was “very limited” but should have been disclosed nonetheless.
Rishi Sunak on report
The report investigating Sharp was not seen by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and he made no promises that a non-political person would take Sharp’s place.
Sunak added, “There’s an appointments process that happens for those appointments. I’m not going to prejudge that.”
