Richard Sharp has resigned as chair of the BBC after a damning report on the “cash for Boris” row found he had breached strict rules on public appointments.
Mr Sharp, a Conservative Party donor, said he was standing down in the interests of the broadcaster.
But Labour said he should have been sacked “weeks ago” after the revelation of his role in helping to arrange an up to £800,000 loan guarantee for Boris Johnson when the former prime minister was still in Downing Street.
And a former commissioner for public appointments called for Mr Johnson’s role in the saga to be examined further.
Rishi Sunak also came under pressure to ensure that the process to appoint a new BBC chair is more transparent.
It came as:
- An inquiry found Mr Sharp had failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest during his application to become BBC chair
- It discovered that an appointment panel was told Mr Sharp was the only candidate “supported by ministers”
- And that leaks about “preferred candidates” may have deterred other applicants
- Gary Lineker tweeted: “The BBC chairman should not be selected by the government of the day. Not now, not ever.”
- A former deputy prime minister said trust in the BBC had been damaged
- There were calls for the next chair of the corporation to be a woman
Mr Sharp has been under pressure to resign since it emerged that he had been involved in helping to secure the loan guarantee by introducing his friend, Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Mr Johnson who wanted to help the then prime minister with his financial woes, to the Cabinet Office. But Mr Sharp held on, even after a damning report by MPs warned that he was damaging trust in the BBC by remaining in post.
However, in the 24 hours before the results of the inquiry were published, the director general of the corporation, Tim Davie, visited Mr Sharp at his home, the BBC reported. Journalists had been told to expect Adam Heppinstall KC’s findings at around 10am. But just minutes before that came the announcement that Mr Sharp would stand down.
Almost immediately, Mr Sharp appeared on the BBC News channel reading a prepared statement, with a BBC logo prominently displayed behind him. There were no questions afterwards. The BBC Trust also released a statement, in which it congratulated Mr Sharp for his achievements.
In his resignation statement, Mr Sharp insisted that his breach of the rules had been “inadvertent and not material”. “Nevertheless, I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC,” the former Goldman Sachs banker added.