Richard Sharp, 67, is a man of many friends. Until now – at the point of his resignation as chair of the BBC over a conflict of interest that had emerged from these cosy relationships – this had suited him just fine.
Some of those friends – like Sam Blyth, the Canadian businessman, bon vivant and distant cousin of Boris Johnson – Sharp has spoken of knowing since leaving the University of Oxford “some 40 years ago”. Others, such as Johnson, who came to benefit from an £800,000 loan guarantee facility from Blyth via Sharp, are more recent in the making, born of a shared politics and the two men’s joint determination to oust Ken Livingstone from his post as London mayor in 2008.
Then there is the former banker’s relationship with Rishi Sunak, which could be said to be somewhere in between in its tenure and type. Sunak, “fresh out of university” Sharp has recalled fondly, was his financial modeller at Goldman Sachs in the early 2000s. The older man had once advised that the prime minister was not cut out for the “dirty” business of politics.
In September 2020, this swirl of friendships, these apparently effortlessly secured connections, fatefully aligned. At the end of a dinner at Blyth’s home, the colourful Canadian entrepreneur had expressed alarm at press reports that his tousled-haired relative was in some financial discomfort due to divorce payments, childcare costs and bills for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat. Sharp had a word with the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, about the possibilities.
Around the same time, due to Sharp having taken a position as an adviser to Sunak, who was then chancellor, he had also been mixing among high-ups in the media world, as he was seeking to prop up Britain’s film industry during the pandemic. It was, Sharp told the culture select committee in February as they investigated his appointment, at this point that some new media “friends” had suggested he throw his hat in the ring for the role of BBC chair. Sharp had thought nothing of any ethical issues posed by these various connections at that point, he told the committee. “It is almost hard to recall.” These were the circles in which he had always mixed, perhaps. Friends helping each other out. They were, however, seemingly unable to help Sharp on Friday as he announced he was standing down over his breach of the governance code for public appointments.
Son of Marion and Eric – the boss of the privatised Cable & Wireless telecoms network in the 1980s, who received a life peerage as Lord Sharp of Grimsdyke in 1989 – Sharp was educated at state schools up to sixth form, after which he joined the fee-paying Merchant Taylors. From there it was up to Christ Church, Oxford, to read philosophy, politics and economics before entering the City with a job at JP Morgan in 1978. He moved on to Goldman Sachs where he made partner at the age of 38.
His twin sister is Dame Victoria Sharp, a court of appeal judge and the first woman to be president of the king’s bench. Sharp’s first wife, Victoria, is a niece of John Gutfreund, the US banker who was known as the “king of Wall Street” in his prime. Sharp lives in Holland Park, dines at Oswald’s, a private members’ club in Mayfair, and has a holiday home in Ibiza.
He told the select committee he was prompted to apply for the role of BBC chair, replacing David Clementi, after the former Daily Telegraph editor, Charles Moore, decided to pull out of the running, citing family health issues. “Some of my friends at that time suggested to me that I should consider applying for the job. I was very interested in the prospect of submitting my application to be chair of the BBC and I did so.” He made sure to tell his friends Johnson and Sunak about his intentions first, of course. Downing Street subsequently conveyed Johnson’s backing for Sharp’s candidacy to the department for culture, media and sport, while intervening to effectively veto the independent members of the panel who would conduct the process.
When he was appointed in February 2021, Sharp was nevertheless concerned that it might be a struggle to win over the corporation, worrying that he would be seen as just the latest incarnation of the “pale, male, stale” chairs of the past. A card-carrying Tory, he has donated more than £400,000 to the party, from an estimated £200m fortune. He voted for Brexit.
Sharp’s first move, however, had been to announce that he would be giving his £160,000 BBC salary to charity, and in 2021 he defended the recruitment of Jess Brammar, the head of the BBC’s news channels, after a board member, Robbie Gibb, who was once Theresa May’s Downing Street director of communications, attempted to block it.
Regarded as a canny and smooth operator, with powerful friends in Downing Street, there seemed to be little standing in the way of a successful tenure. The road did promise, however, to be that bit more bumpy due to the need to secure the long-term sustainability of the corporation before charter renewal at the end of 2027, and at a time when some in the cabinet were questioning the future of the licence fee. Then on 21 January a Sunday Times story dropped: “The BBC chairman, the prime minister and the £800,000 loan guarantee”.
Sharp, the newspaper reported, had been involved in talks about financing Johnson’s Downing Street lifestyle in November and December 2020. He had, it said, already submitted his application to become chair of the public service broadcaster. The select committee that had interviewed Sharp before his appointment by the prime minister had known nothing of it.
Sharp has explained that he did not feel a need to disclose all this to the committee as he had already done so to the cabinet secretary, “the most senior civil servant in the land”. It was, perhaps, the level at which he has always felt most comfortable. But as a report by the barrister, Adam Heppinstall KC, found against Sharp on Friday, those friends were apparently powerless or unwilling to help. Sharp stood alone as he announced his departure.
• This article was amended on 28 April 2023. An earlier version said that Dame Victoria Sharp was a high court judge. She is a court of appeal judge.
