Richard Sharp Appointment “Should Not Stand,” Says Former BBC Director General

deadline.com:

The BBC’s appointment of Chair Richard Sharp “should not stand” and the process was “fatally flawed,” according to former Director General John Birt, who threw his weight behind the corporation over the Gary Lineker scandal.

The embattled Sharp, who is awaiting the result of two inquiries into his appointment, was described by Birt as “a person of obvious weight and consequence but an unsuitable candidate in one vital respect,” as he became one of the highest profile UK media figures to state Sharp should be forced to step down. “I don’t think the appointment should stand,” Birt told the UK’s influential DCMS Committee (DCMSC) this afternoon. “This isn’t about political connections because governments of all kinds have appointed BBC Chairs who enjoy their confidence.

But having known every BBC Chair for decades, governments have tended to have a good record for appointing people with an independent cast of mind, who will protect the BBC’s independence.” Deadline revealed last week that the BBC had raised concerns about the way the government was going about appointing its new Chairman before the controversial hire of Sharp, who has been under the microscope for weeks after the Times revealed he had helped facilitate a loan for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson via the UK’s Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and Johnson’s distant cousin Sam Blyth.

Johnson had the final say on Sharp’s appointment and the DCMSC recently accused Sharp, a Tory donor and former boss of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, of making “significant errors of judgment.” He was also chided for undermining the selection process for the BBC chairmanship when he failed to disclose his links with Johnson.