Looking Sharp about it

NEARING a year on from the ousting of Boris Johnson, the ruptures caused by his shaky tenure as Prime Minister can still be felt. Richard Sharp’s resignation follows a long line of people publicly humiliated as a result of their relationship with Johnson.

Sharp, a former banker, was Rishi Sunak’s boss at Goldman Sachs and one of Johnson’s advisors during his time as Mayor of London. He earned himself a fortune of some £200 million in the city, a portion of which he has given to the Conservative Party through several donations over the last two decades. This is not uncharacteristic of a BBC Chair, as they tend to be a party-political appointment, and so this did not cause much controversy when Sharp was appointed in February 2021. It is important to note that when Sharp was appointed BBC Chair he was seen as the safer option amid candidates ranging from Charles Moore, a staunch BBC critic and George Osborne, the former chancellor. The most pressing concern of Richard Sharp was ‘establishing the independence’ of the BBC, a task which, it would be unanimously agreed, he completely failed on.

The relationships between Sharp, Sunak and Johnson were well publicised and caused Richard Sharp no direct harm. That was until it was reported that his relationship with the ex-PM was perhaps more entwined than originally understood. He had secured Boris Johnson an £800,000 loan with a distant Canadian cousin whom he completely failed to disclose during the process of being appointed BBC Chair, or even once he became Chair. Having innumerable illegitimate children is obviously an expensive business and Johnson’s salary as Prime Minister was a mere £164,080: only enough for three Eton school fees. The inability to disclose this loan suggests a lack of regard for standards in public life and the appointment process. This is further displayed in his letter of resignation, which only came after the findings of the Heppinstall Inquiry were published. The letter did not contain contrition or apology. Instead, Sharp sought to highlight how breaching the governance code does not ‘necessarily invalidate an appointment’, maintaining Boris Johnson’s theme of failing to concede or apologise.

He had secured Boris Johnson an £800,000 loan

The BBC is already under serious pressure from both the left and right of politics to be reformed in some way, though no one can decide what form a new BBC would take. This appointment has caused the BBC further reputational damage at no fault of its own. Whilst the range of views on whether a publicly funded broadcaster has a place in modern society, it is shameful for the government to trash an organisation that is Britain’s greatest global soft-power asset along with the royal family. Looking forward, Keir Starmer has pledged to make the role of BBC Chair an independent appointment if Labour gets into government, but that is irrelevant for the next appointment which the current government have control over. Some in government will want a non-partisan Chair to avoid any further claims of cronyism or corruption in government, but some (the Nadine Dorries of this world) will want a hard-line BBCbasher. Whatever candidate Rishi Sunak decides to opt for it will be telling of the direction of his government: will he pander and feed the rhetoric of the hardliners in his party, or will he have a grown up conversation and set a tone of sensible government?