MPs criticise BBC chairman Richard Sharp over Johnson loan

Richard Sharp, the former Goldman Sachs banker and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's former boss.

Pressure is mounting on BBC chairman Richard Sharp after MPs found he made “significant errors of judgment” by acting as a go-between for a loan for Boris Johnson.

A cross-party committee criticised his failure to declare to MPs his role in facilitating the loan when he was applying for the job of BBC chairman and said he should “consider the impact his omissions will have” on trust in the broadcaster.

It said his actions “constitute a breach of the standards expected of individuals” applying for prominent public appointments.

Sharp insisted he did not arrange the loan but admitted introducing his friend Sam Blyth, a cousin of Johnson who wanted to help the then-prime minister with his financial troubles, to the Cabinet Office.

Sharp was named as the preferred candidate for the BBC job in January 2021 and the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee backed his appointment – but crucially it was not aware of his role in facilitating the £800,000 loan guarantee.

In a report published today, the committee says Sharp’s failure to come clean could damage the BBC. “Richard Sharp’s decisions, firstly to become involved in the facilitation of a loan to the then-prime minister while at the same time applying for a job that was in that same person’s gift, and then to fail to disclose this material relationship, were significant errors of judgment,” the MPs said.

The committee concluded: “Mr Sharp should consider the impact his omissions will have on trust in him, the BBC and the public appointments process.”

Acting chairman of the DCMS Committee Damian Green said: “Richard Sharp chose not to tell either the appointment panel or our committee about his involvement in the facilitation of a loan to Boris Johnson.

“Such a significant error of judgment meant we were not in the full possession of the facts when we were required to rule on his suitability for the role of BBC chair.”

Deputy Liberal Democrat leader Daisy Cooper said Johnson “must now also face the music and answer questions from an independent inquiry”.