on media


Sharp has crossed a dangerous line


The BBC chair has undermined himself, says Raymond Snoddy Obscure accountant Stuart Young


T


he main act was always going to be the now sacked Nadhim Zahawi, the man who negotiated and settled


a multimillion fine imposed by HMRC while he was in charge of that very body as chancellor of the exchequer. Somehow, he accidentally neglected


to pay capital gains tax on £27 million gained from the sale of the YouGov polling organisation he co-founded. Zahawi, it appears, also forgot to


mention the payment to former prime minister Liz Truss and current PM Rishi Sunak before his appointment as chairman of the Conservative Party. The formal investigation completes a unique treble at the top of this most singular of Conservative governments – the now former party chairman, deputy prime minister Dominic Rabb and former prime minister Boris Johnson have all been under investigation at the same time for allegations of different breaches of the Code of Standards for MPs. In comparison, the Richard Sharp affair seems like a mere leitmotif carrying persistent echoes of cronyism rather than corruption, amid question marks over what is appropriate behaviour for a chairman of the BBC. Appointing chairmen of the BBC – they have always been men – has consistently been a murky business. Labour as well as Conservative tend to appoint sympathisers to the post. Duke Hussey is believed to have got the job because his wife Lady Hussey (of recent controversy while lady-in- waiting to the Queen) asked whether something could be found for “Dukie”. Rupert Murdoch, his employer


at the time, was flabbergasted at the appointment.


just happened to be the brother of successful businessman David Young who went on to become Tory cabinet minister Lord Young of Graffham. Against such a background, there


was nothing totally unexpected about the appointment of the well-connected former Goldman Sachs merchant banker Richard Sharp. He had advised Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and Sunak at the Treasury. Sharp had also been Sunak’s boss at


Goldman and, over the years, had donated £400,000 to the Conservatives. But, what the hell, he was certainly better than the original preferred candidate – Lord Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher’s official biographer and arch critic of the BBC and its licence fee. With such high-level Tory contacts,


Sharp might even be a useful voice arguing for the BBC and its funding. Then came the Sunday Times


revelation that Sharp had been involved in manoeuvres to guarantee an £800,000 loan for the needy Boris Johnson during the final stage of his bid for the BBC role. The paper said that Sharp linked one old friend, multi-millionaire Sam Blyth, with the prime minister. Johnson and Blyth happen to be distant cousins. Sharp insists he did nothing wrong


and that he told the head of the cabinet office Simon Case about this to avoid any conflict of interest. He does not seem to have realised that this approach, which would inevitably have reached Johnson, amounted in itself to a conflict of interest. Surely, all he had to do was privately give Blyth Johnson’s telephone number and let them get on with it. Then naturally the three had to dine


at Chequers afterwards – according to the Sunday Times, they ate chop suey


and drank wine – although Sharp denies the loan was discussed. Then came another episode, showing


the perfectly concentric circles in British society. The commissioner for public appointments, William Shawcross, was called in to investigate. Total coincidence but his daughter Eleanor just happens to be head of the Number 10 Policy Unit. Adding to the fiasco, he then excused himself, admitting he had met Sharp several times. Along the way, The Guardian reported


Sharp owns a multimillion pound stake in health care company Oncimmune granted £600,000 for Covid research while he was an adviser in Downing Street. He is a former director of the company. The grant, it is insisted, was independently awarded and his stake is now in a blind account. As far as an outsider can tell, Sharp


has fought for the interests of the BBC since his appointment, but there is one important charge against him. According to former BBC North


“ ”


American editor Jon Sopel, Sharp caused disquiet when he was involved last year in the interview of the excellent Deborah Turness for the post of chief executive of BBC News. BBC editorial appointments are


Appointing chairmen of the BBC – they have always been men – has consistently been a murky business


ultimately the responsibility of the director general, who is also editor-in- chief. They are not the responsibility of BBC chairmen and Sharp was seen to cross a dangerous line between the BBC’s editorial impartiality and the politically appointed chairmanship. Unlike Zahawi, Sharp will probably escape with a ticking-off for, his political naiveté. However, his reputation will have been greatly damaged. We can be certain that the next Labour government will not be reappointing him for a second term.


theJournalist | 09


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