28 April: Richard Sharp, the chairman of the BBC, has announced his resignation over a report that investigated whether he failed to disclose his involvement in the facilitation of a loan to Boris Johnson when he was Prime Minister.
The report, led by barrister Adam Heppinstall and commissioned by the Commissioner of Public Appointments, found that Mr Sharp had breached the governance code for public appointments, but that the breach was “inadvertent and not material” and did not invalidate his appointment.
Mr Sharp said he did not play “any part whatsoever in the facilitation, arrangement, or financing of a loan for the former Prime Minister”. He said he only helped to set up a meeting between Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Sam Blyth, a businessman who was offering Mr Johnson financial help.
He admitted that he should have disclosed this role to the appointments panel during the scrutiny process before he became the BBC chairman, and apologised for the “oversight”.
He said he decided to resign because he did not want to be a “distraction” and that it had been an honour to chair the BBC. He will remain in post until June until a successor is appointed.
The full KC-led report is being published today.
The allegations against Mr Sharp were first reported by the Sunday Times in October. The newspaper claimed that Mr Johnson had sought a loan of £500,000 from Mr Blyth to cover his legal costs in a divorce case.
Mr Johnson denied any wrongdoing and said he had paid for his own legal fees. He also said he had no knowledge of any loan offer from Mr Blyth.
The BBC is an independent public service broadcaster funded by a licence fee paid by UK households. It is governed by a board of directors chaired by Mr Sharp since February 2021.
Mr Sharp is a former banker and adviser to Chancellor Rishi Sunak. He was appointed as the BBC chairman by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden after a public competition.