BBC chairman quits: The chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Richard Sharp, stepped down on Friday after it came to light that he had concealed his involvement in setting up a loan for former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for roughly $1 million USD.
This comes after Sharp had earlier denied involvement in the arrangement and the possibility of a conflict of interest, as the loan was taken before he was appointed director of the public broadcaster.
Sharp was under pressure
The former banker came under pressure to quit weeks before the then-PM Johnson chose Sharp for his role in 2021 when it emerged that he acted as a middleman while Johnson was attempting to get the loan.
The 800,000 pounds ($1 million) line of credit came from wealthy Canadian businessman Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Johnson’s. It was facilitated by Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker and Conservative Party donor, who arranged a meeting between Blyth and the U.K.’s top civil servant to discuss Blyth’s offer of financial help.
Sharp's reaction
According to Sharp, the violation was "inadvertent and not material," but he insisted he was leaving to "prioritise the interests of the BBC." Earlier in February, Sharp said he "didn't arrange the loan," suggesting he acted as a "sort of introduction agency."
“I feel that this matter may well be a distraction from the corporation’s good work were I to remain in post until the end of my term,” he said, as per the Associated Press (AP).
Sharp is the latest in a string of politicians and officials brought down through their association with Johnson, a charismatic and chaotic politician who became prime minister in 2019 and led Britain out of the European Union the following year.
Johnson resigned in 2022
Johnson himself was forced to quit last year after a series of scandals over money, ethics and judgment became too much for his Conservative Party colleagues to bear.
Sharp’s resignation spares the current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, from having to decide whether to fire him. Sunak, a former banker who once worked under Sharp at Goldman Sachs, has tried to restore stability to the government after three tumultuous years under Johnson and seven roller-coaster weeks under successor Liz Truss, who quit in September after her tax-slashing economic plans caused financial mayhem.
(With AP inputs)
