BBC Board To Probe Richard Sharp Conflicts Of Interest Amid Boris Johnson Loan Scandal

BBC Chair Richard Sharp has asked the BBC Board to review conflicts of interest in the wake of the Boris Johnson loan scandal that broke over the weekend.

Sharp has been under pressure since a bombshell Sunday Times report that said he had helped organize the PM’s meeting with a guarantor for an £800,000 ($990,000) loan in 2020, before being appointed Chair by the government several weeks later.

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The report has led to widespread accusations of a conflict of interest regarding Sharp’s appointment and the opposition Labour Party has called for an inquiry. Former Goldman Sachs banker Sharp is a former adviser to now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and has in the past donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party.

A note to staff from Sharp in the past hour said: “The Nominations Committee of the BBC Board has responsibility for regularly reviewing Board members conflicts of interest and I have agreed with the Board’s Senior Independent Director, Sir Nicholas Serota, that the Committee shall assess this when it next meets, reporting to the Board, and in the interests of transparency publish the conclusions.”

The Board’s work cannot be retrospective and will not probe Sharp’s actual appointment, which is a matter for the government.

“Our work at the BBC is rooted in trust,” added Sharp. “We have many challenges at the BBC, and I know that distractions such as this are not welcomed.”

The move comes a few hours before senior civil servants are due to appear in front of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, during which the Sharp saga will no doubt come up.

The Sunday Times reported that Sharp met Sam Blyth, a Canadian businessman and distant cousin of the former Prime Minister, in October 2020, who is said to have raised the idea of acting as a guarantor on a credit facility for Johnson’s loan and asked Sharp for advice on the best way forward. The now BBC chairman agreed to help Blyth and introduced him to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, the paper reported.

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Today’s note from Sharp said he had known Blyth for 40 years and, having connected him with Case and reminded Case that he had applied to be BBC Chair, he “agreed to avoid any conflict that I should have nothing further to do with the matter.”

The UK’s Cabinet Office has rejected all conflict of interest accusations but the report has undoubtedly raised concerns over the government and BBC’s relationship at a time when the relationship has been doing well, with the Conservatives seemingly pleased with the way in which Sharp and Director General Tim Davie have been running the ship over the past couple of years.

The BBC has been quick to stress that it has nothing to do with the appointment, with a spokesman saying: “The BBC plays no role in the recruitment of the Chair and any questions are a matter for the government.”

Sharp’s note in full

Dear all,

You may have seen reporting over the weekend about the nature of my appointment as Chairman of the BBC.

As Chairman of the BBC I have a responsibility to you, and to our audiences, to make sure that the BBC is always held in high regard, and I don’t want this episode to distract from the important work that you are doing. I wanted to write to you directly to set out the facts.

Prior to my appointment, I introduced an old friend of mine – and distant cousin of the then Prime Minister – Sam Blythe, to the Cabinet Secretary, as Sam wanted to support Boris Johnson.

I was not involved in making a loan, or arranging a guarantee, and I did not arrange any financing. What I did do was to seek an introduction of Sam Blythe to the relevant official in Government.

Sam Blythe, who I have known for more than forty years, lives in London and having become aware of the financial pressures on the then Prime Minister, and being a successful entrepreneur, he told me he wanted to explore whether he could assist.

He spoke to me because he trusts me and wanted to check with me what the right way to go about this could be. I told him that this was a sensitive area in any event, particularly so as Sam is a Canadian, and that he should seek to have the Cabinet Office involved and have the Cabinet Secretary advise on appropriateness and indeed whether any financial support Sam might wish to provide was possible. Accordingly Sam asked me whether I would connect him with the Cabinet Secretary.

At the time I was working in Downing Street as a special economic adviser to the Treasury during the pandemic, and I had submitted my application to be Chairman of the BBC. I went to see the Cabinet Secretary and explained who Sam was, and that as a cousin of the then Prime Minister he wanted to help him if possible. I also reminded the Cabinet Secretary that I had submitted my application for the position of BBC Chairman. We both agreed that to avoid any conflict that I should have nothing further to do with the matter. At that point there was no detail on the proposed arrangements and I had no knowledge of whether any assistance was possible, or could be agreed.

Since that meeting I have had no involvement whatsoever with any process. Even now, I don’t know any more than is reported in the media about a loan or reported guarantee.

I am now aware that the Cabinet Office have a note of this meeting, and that this included advice to the Prime Minister that I should not be involved, to avoid any conflict or appearance of conflict with my BBC application.

The Cabinet Office have confirmed that the recruitment process was followed appropriately and that I was appointed on merit, in a process which was independently monitored. Moreover they have confirmed that they gave advice at the time that I should have no involvement whatsoever in any process which might or might not take place, precisely to avoid a conflict or perception of a conflict of interest.

This matter, although it took place before I joined the BBC, is a distraction for the organisation, which I regret. I’m really sorry about it all.

I am proud and honoured to have been appointed as the Chairman of the BBC. I have never hidden my longstanding relationship with the former Prime Minister, however I believe firmly that I was appointed on merit, which the Cabinet Office have also confirmed.

We have many challenges at the BBC, and I know that distractions such as this are not welcomed.

Our work at the BBC is rooted in trust. Although the appointment of the BBC Chairman is solely a matter for the Government, I want to ensure that all the appropriate guidelines have been followed within the BBC since I have joined. The Nominations Committee of the BBC Board has responsibility for regularly reviewing Board members conflicts of interest and I have agreed with the Board’s Senior Independent Director, Sir Nicholas Serota, that the Committee shall assess this when it next meets, reporting to the Board, and in the interests of transparency publish the conclusions.

I look forward to continuing our work together.

Best wishes,

Richard

Richard SharpBBC Chairman

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