Richard Sharp steps down as chairman of British broadcaster BBC. He is stepping down now that an investigation by the British regulator shows that he broke the rules because he helped then Prime Minister Boris Johnson get a loan shortly before his appointment.
The commission launched the investigation after an article in The Sunday Times newspaper. It stated that Sharp would have arranged a loan of 800,000 pounds (900,000 euros) for Johnson. The then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom would have been in financial difficulties in 2021. Sharp would have guaranteed that loan while he was already in the application process to become BBC chairman.
‘No conflict of interest’
The loan came from a wealthy Canadian businessman, Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Johnson. Sharp, a former banker and donor to Johnson’s party, arranged a meeting between Blyth and the UK’s most senior civil servant to discuss the loan.
When the story came out, Sharp denied any conflict of interest. According to him, he had “only put people in contact with each other”.
According to the British regulator, the fact that he has broken the rules is no reason for Sharp to resign. Yet he does so because staying on would “distract from the good work of the BBC”. He does want to keep doing his job until June, so that the BBC has enough time to look for a suitable successor.
