The great cleanup after the Boris Johnson era continues in the UK. On Friday April 28, Richard Sharp, chairman of the BBC’s supervisory board, was forced to resign after the publication of a report denouncing his role as a matchmaker in a loan granted to the former British prime minister.
The case dates back to December 2020. At the time, Mr Johnson needed the money personally. Mr. Sharp, one of his relatives, and also a former banker at Goldman Sachs, suggests to the secretary general of Downing Street to introduce him to one of his friends, who could possibly facilitate the loan. The Prime Minister will indeed end up borrowing 800,000 pounds sterling (910,000 euros, according to the current rate) in this way, from a source that remains unknown.
At the same time, Mr Sharp applies to be Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the BBC, but fails to declare the help he has given in this matter. In February 2021, he gets the job.
Since Sunday Times revealed this strange financial affair, prompting the commissioner responsible for overseeing public appointments, Adam Heppinstall, to open an investigation. Its conclusions, published on Friday, speak of “the perception of a potential conflict of interest”. ‘There may be a risk that Mr Sharp will not be seen as independent of the former prime minister’, he adds. Failing to reveal his role as matchmaker, Mr. Sharp “violates the code of conduct for appointments”.
Climate of mistrust
The conclusions of the report are not extremely harsh. Mr. Heppinstall clarifies that he draws no conclusion as to the reality of the conflict of interest: “I do not judge independence [de M. Sharp] at this post. » In his letter of resignation, Mr. Sharp does not fail to defend himself: “I have always said that this violation [du code de conduite] was unintentional and inconsequential. »
But the president of the BBC was also forced to resign because of the climate of distrust which opened up against him within the Corporation. Officially, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board is not in charge of editorial issues, which fall to the CEO. But Mr Sharp was seen as the emissary of Mr Johnson and a government that wanted to rein in a BBC seen as too anti-Brexit and too left-wing.
Under his presidency, the managing director, Tim Davie, indeed strongly insisted on the absolute neutrality required of his journalists, at the risk of muzzling critics. In addition, since 2010 and the arrival of the Conservatives in power, the BBC has suffered numerous budget cuts: its budget has fallen, in real value, by 25%. A redundancy plan is currently underway.
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