TBEN chairman Richard Sharp made “significant errors of judgement” by not disclosing his role in facilitating an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson weeks before the then prime minister recommended him for the role, a committee of MPs has found.
The damning report also said he should “consider the impact of his omissions” on confidence in the TBEN and his own appointment.
The former banker, who is in his 60s, worked in the financial industry for more than 30 years, including a 23-year stint at investment giant Goldman Sachs, where he was reportedly mentored by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Prior to that, he worked in both commercial and investment banking for JP Morgan.
Richard Sharp is a former member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee
(Department of Digital, Culture,)
Mr Sharp, who studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, is also a former President and Emeritus Trustee of the Royal Academy.
He reportedly acted as an informal adviser to Mr Sunak at the start of the pandemic and played a key role in the creation of the government’s £1.57bn culture restoration fund.
He was also a member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee from 2013 to 2019, and is on the board of the Center for Policy Studies, the think tank founded by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s.
The appointment of Mr Sharp as chairman of the TBEN, during one of the most turbulent periods in its history in February 2021, was widely seen as political.
At the time, the company faced criticism over pay equality, diversity, free TV licenses for the over-75s, and competition from streaming services like Netflix.
Mr Sharp, who is a multi-millionaire and featured on the Sunday Times Rich List, is a long-term donor to the Conservative Party and was on Boris Johnson’s council of economic advisers when he was mayor of London.
Boris Johnson said Mr Sharp “knows absolutely nothing about my personal finances”
(PA wire)
During his tenure at the TBEN, he has defended the broadcaster on numerous occasions, using his platform to emphasize the importance of journalism in speaking “truth to power” while lamenting the threat of disinformation facing the industry.
In 2021, he denied the controversy over hiring Jess Brammar, as the head of news outlets had “contaminated” her appointment, after her impartiality was called into question following the emergence of old tweets critical of Brexit.
Last year, he criticized the government’s two-year license fee freeze, describing it as “disappointing” and saying it will lead to “tougher choices” that will affect viewers.
But later in the year he said the board “welcome an informed debate” on the broadcaster’s future funding and “nothing should be off the table”.
He also said former TBEN presenter Emily Maitlis was “completely wrong” when she suggested “due process was not followed” after criticizing the company’s handling of her Newsnight speech about Dominic Cummings.
Mr Sharp is a long-standing donor to the Conservative Party
(PA media)
In an apparent reference to former Prime Minister Theresa May’s former communications director, Sir Robbie Gibb, Ms Maitlis said there was an “active Conservative Party agent” on the TBEN board and that the company was “trying to pacify” Number 10 after her monologue about the then chief adviser’s trip to Durham during the lockdown.
The chairman told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) that Ms Maitlis’ apparent description of Sir Robbie was “completely wrong” and that he was “disappointed” that she made that point.
Mr Sharp told the Sunday Times, reporting on his alleged involvement in arranging Mr Johnson’s loan, that he “simply connected people” and there was no conflict of interest.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the newspaper’s report was “nonsense” and that his financial arrangements were “correctly stated”.
