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Richard Sharp, a Conservative Party donor, says he will resign in the interests of the station. Richard Sharp resigned as BBC chairman after a damning report into the "money for Boris" dispute revealed he breached strict rules on public appointments. Sharp, a Conservative Party donor, said he would resign in the interests of the broadcaster.
But Labor said he should have been sacked "weeks ago" after his role in securing a loan guarantee of up to £800,000 for Boris Johnson came to light when the former prime minister was still in Downing Street.
And a former public appointments commissioner has called for Johnson's role in the saga to be further investigated.
Rishi Sunak has also come under pressure to ensure that the appointment process for a new BBC president is more transparent.
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Sharp has been under pressure to resign since it emerged that he was involved in securing the loan guarantee by introducing his friend, Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Johnson who wanted to help the Prime Minister at the time with his financial problems, at the Office cabinet. But Sharp stood his ground, even after a damning report from parliamentarians warned that he was undermining trust in the BBC by remaining in office.
However, in the 24 hours before the survey results were released, the company's chief executive, Tim Davie, visited Sharp at his home, the BBC reported. Journalists had been told to expect the findings from Adam Heppinstall KC at around 10am. But minutes before that, it was announced that Mr Sharp would resign.
Almost immediately, Mr Sharp appeared on the BBC news channel and read a prepared statement, with a prominent BBC logo behind it. There were no questions afterwards. The BBC Trust also issued a statement congratulating Sharp on his achievements.
In his resignation statement, Sharp insisted that his breach of the rules had been "unintentional and non-material." “However, I have decided that it is right to put the interests of the BBC first,” added the former Goldman Sachs banker.
A former deputy prime minister said the Sharp crisis had shaken confidence in the BBC. Damian Green, who is now chairman of the Commons Culture Committee, said: "The undoubted damage that Mr Sharp's failure to disclose perceived conflicts of interest has done to trust in the BBC, the publicity of the appointments process and the Mr. Sharp's reputation, everything could have been avoided if he had chosen to be more open with the facts when he appeared before [our] committee more than two years ago.
He called on the ministers to replace Sharp with someone who had the "integrity and impartiality" required for the role.
There have also been calls for a closer look at Johnson's involvement. Sir Peter Riddell, who was public appointments commissioner when Sharp took office, said the former prime minister's role "has not been discussed enough" as it fell outside the scope of the inquiry.
"He was conflicted himself," he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. "...Should he have recused himself from the nomination [process] since he knew Richard Sharp had helped him with this loan?"
But he also criticized Johnson's role in the scandal, saying: "I should have known that I shouldn't have been involved in financial problems with a candidate for a job at the BBC, knowing that he was going to make the final decision."
Sir Alistair also called for future appointments to be taken out of the Prime Minister's hands and made instead by a panel of independent experts. He said: "It would be better if there was an alternative, to really reinforce the independence of the BBC."
Former Conservative Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said Sharp's resignation was an opportunity for the BBC to appoint its first female president. He said he would have 'preferred' Mr Sharp to stay, but added: 'This is a great opportunity to appoint a first female director of the BBC.
Lord Vaizey also said there was "legitimate debate" about whether public roles should be filled by "political friends" and party donors.
Senior SNP MP John Nicolson, who is also on the culture committee, said Sharp's appointment to the role was "insane". The next BBC president must not be a Tory donor, he added, calling for an end to political party appointments to 'civil service posts'.
The report found that Sharp failed to disclose two potential conflicts of interest during the process to run for BBC president.
One concerned the loan. But the investigation also found that Sharp's candidacy was subject to another conflict of interest: he had told the prime minister in advance that he wanted to be company chairman.
Sharp disputed that, but conceded that he should have explained to the nominating committee that he was making a presentation to help Johnson with his finances. "He says his non-disclosure was totally inadvertent," the report says.
A Johnson spokesman declined to comment.
BBC/PA
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