If the BBC chairman Richard Sharp has to go, it will not be entirely his fault

Editorial: Richard Sharp should have been told that the public perception that he would be getting the BBC job as a thank you from Boris Johnson – even if unfair and untrue – might eventually become known and would hurt his reputation and the standing of the BBC. So, indeed, it has proved

Richard Sharp is an intelligent man and not entirely lacking in judgement (PA)

Although he might not care to admit it, Richard Sharp, currently an increasingly beleaguered chair of the BBC, is one of the many people damaged by an association with Boris Johnson. In Mr Sharp’s case, it was his self-styled role as a “go-between”, linking Mr Johnson, then prime minister, with a rich Canadian businessman, Sam Blyth. The aim was to help relieve Mr Johnson of his personal financial stress, through Mr Blyth acting as guarantor for an £800,000 credit facility. What financial institution or friendly individual was willing to extend such a credit line to Mr Johnson, with or without guarantee, remains a mystery. Mr Johnson’s chaotic personal financial affairs, by contrast, were and are an open secret.

All of that would be irregular enough, not to say undesirable, in a serving prime minister – presenting all manner of potential conflicts of interest and risks. For Mr Sharp it was entirely unwise, given that around this time – mid-to-late 2020 – he was in the running for the forthcoming vacancy of chair of the BBC. He had applied for the post before, unsuccessfully, long before Mr Johnson was in charge of nominating the government’s “preferred candidate”.

Mr Sharp is an intelligent man and not entirely lacking in judgement. He, on behalf of Mr Blyth and to some extent himself, and with the prime minister’s approval, therefore approached the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, to discuss and clear this unconventional method of supplementing the prime minister’s earnings, and to approve Mr Sharp’s limited role as an agent of introduction. Mr Case helpfully concluded that there would indeed be no conflict of interest in relation to the BBC appointment – provided Mr Sharp’s involvement, whatever it was, then ceased. In parallel, Mr Case apparently advised the prime minister that “given the imminent announcement of Richard Sharp as the new BBC chair, it is important that you no longer ask his advice about your personal financial matters”.