Richard Sharp: BBC chairman says he won't quit over Boris Johnson loan row

Richard Sharp says he will not stand down as chairman of the BBC over the Boris Johnson loan row.

He told the BBC he was confident he would be cleared by a government watchdog probe into his appointment.

Mr Sharp is under scrutiny over his links to the former prime minister and his role in talks over an £800,000 loan.

He said he was confident he was "appointed on merit" and welcomed a review.

Speaking to the BBC, he said he "absolutely" feels comfortable about being the face of BBC impartiality despite questions which have emerged this week.

He rejected suggestions he should stand down pending the findings of an investigation by William Shawcross, the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Mr Sharp said he welcomed that scrutiny and that he had taken steps to ensure "due process was followed by the book".

He said he did that by contacting the then-Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to discuss an offer of financial assistance being made for the then-PM.

Sam Blyth, a multimillionaire who Mr Sharp described as an "old friend", had offered to be the guarantor on a loan for Mr Johnson after reading press reports that the then-prime minister was under financial pressure.

Mr Sharp was involved in discussions in December 2020, a few weeks before being announced as the government's choice for the senior BBC role.

Mr Sharp said he made the cabinet secretary aware of his application to be chairman and agreed with Mr Case that he should play no further part in any loan talks.

He said this was the last involvement he had in the matter. Mr Johnson was also advised by the Cabinet Office not to further discuss finances with Mr Sharp.

Mr Sharp insisted that Mr Johnson's personal finances were not discussed when he met with him and Mr Blyth in May 2021, four months after he had been confirmed as the government's choice for the BBC role.

Asked how that meeting came about, he said Mr Blyth had called him to say he was "having dinner with [Mr Johnson]" at Chequers.

"I said, 'yeah great', I'd never been to Chequers. I drove down… and I used that opportunity to bat for the BBC", Mr Sharp said.

He said the loan arrangement did not come up and insisted that he doesn't "know anything" about Mr Johnson's personal finances.