Resignation of BBC Chairman: The chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Richard Sharp, stepped down on Friday after it emerged that he concealed his involvement in setting up a roughly USD 1 million loan to former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
It comes after Sharp has previously denied involvement in the arrangement and a potential conflict of interest, as the loan was taken before he was appointed director of the public broadcaster.
was under intense pressure
The former banker came under pressure weeks before then-PM Johnson chose Sharp for his role in 2021 after it emerged he acted as a middleman while Johnson was attempting to obtain the loan.
The £800,000 ($1 million) line of credit came from wealthy Canadian businessman Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Johnson’s. This was facilitated by a former banker at Goldman Sachs and Donner Sharp of the Conservative Party, who arranged a meeting between Blythe and a top UK civil servant to discuss Blythe’s offer of financial help.
fast response
According to Sharpe, the breach was “inadvertent and not material”, but insisted that he was leaving to “prioritise the interests of the BBC”. Earlier in February, Sharp said that he “did not arrange the loan,” suggesting that he acted as “an introducing agency of sorts.”
According to the Associated Press (AP), he said, “I feel that this matter may distract from the good work of the corporation, if I remain in office until the end of my term.”
Sharp is the latest in a string of politicians and officials brought up through her association with Johnson, a charismatic and chaotic politician who became prime minister in 2019 and took Britain out of the European Union the following year.
Johnson resigns in 2022
Johnson himself was forced to step down last year after a series of scandals over money, ethics and judgment became too much for his Conservative Party colleagues to bear.
Sharpe’s resignation prevents the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, from deciding whether to sack him. Sunak, a former banker who once worked under Sharp at Goldman Sachs, sought to restore stability to the government after three tumultuous years under Johnson and seven roller-coaster weeks under successor Liz Truss. Who left office in September following his tax-cut economic plans. Caused financial ruin.
(with AP inputs)