BBC Chairman Richard Sharp is under investigation over potential conflicts of interests after allegations emerged that he had helped secure an £800,000 ($987,000) loan guarantee for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Sunday Times alleged that Sharp, a Tory donor and BBC chair candidate at the time, was involved in talks about financing Johnson when the then-prime minister found himself in financial difficulty in late 2020, shortly before Sharp was appointed chair of the public broadcaster.
On Monday, Sharp denied any role in arranging the loan and said the BBC board will “assess” this matter when it next meets.
Meanwhile, in response to a request from Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell, Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross said he would review the competition that led to Sharp’s appointment as BBC chairman to assure the public that “the process was run in compliance with the government’s governance code for public appointments.”…