BBC in crisis as chairman 'helped arrange guarantee on £800,000 loan to Boris ... trends now
The chairman of the BBC helped Boris Johnson secure a loan of £800,000 while he was Prime Minister just weeks before he was then recommended by the PM for the job, it has been revealed today.
Richard Sharp, 66, a former banker at Goldman Sachs, is a long-established donor to the Conservative Party and became involved in crucial talks from November 2020 which discussed how Mr Johnson could continue to afford his lavish lifestyle, The Times reports.
Mr Sharp had already submitted his application for the BBC role and had reached the final stages of the recruitment process when he became involved in the issue while at the home of friend Sam Blyth in west London.
Mr Blyth - a Canadian businessman said to be worth at least $50 million (£41 million) and a distant cousin of Mr Johnson - is said to have discussed being a guarantor on the loan and asked for Mr Sharp's financial advice.
Richard Sharp, 66, a former banker at Goldman Sachs, is a long-established donor to the Conservative Party
Before the loan was finalised, the PM invited Mr Sharp and Mr Blyth for a private dinner at Chequers, where they reportedly ate chop suey and drank wine
Late in 2020 the PM, 58, was reportedly in financial trouble with divorce payments, childcare costs and bills for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.
After Mr Sharp reportedly agreed to help, he is said to have met with Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service at Simon Case at Downing Street at the beginning of December 2020.
He then later introduced the Cabinet Secretary to Mr Blyth, The Times reports.
During the pandemic Mr Sharp was also a Covid-19 economics adviser to Rishi Sunak, then chancellor.
Before the loan was finalised, the PM allegedly invited Mr Sharp and Mr Blyth for a private dinner at Chequers, where they ate chop suey and drank wine - but all three are said to deny that Mr Johnson's finances were discussed there.
Just a few weeks later Mr Johnson had selected Mr Sharp as his preferred candidate to become the new BBC chairman, a role which pays £160,000 per year.
The Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team then had to write a formal letter to the PM to tell him to stop taking advice from Mr Sharp about his personal finances, The Times reports.
A matter of days later Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced that Mr Sharp was the government's choice for the role on January 6, 2021.
Mr Sharp told the paper that he did 'connect' Mr Blyth and Mr Case but insisted there was 'no conflict of interest'.
Mr Johnson's spokesperson said the former PM had declared his interests correctly and, when asked about the Chequers dinner, replied: 'So what? Big deal.'
A spokesperson for the BBC told MailOnline: 'The BBC plays no role in the recruitment of the Chair and any questions are a matter for the Government.'
Representatives for Boris Johnson have been contacted for comment.
Anyone can apply for the role of BBC chairman and the job is decided by the
