The chairman of the British corporation BBC, Richard Sharphas resigned this Friday after a report revealed that he infringed the rules regarding public appointments, after facilitate the granting of a loan to former Prime Minister Boris Johnsonwho nominated him for the position.

In a statement, Sharp has explained that adopts this decision to “give priority to the interests” of the channelconsidering that this issue “could be a distraction from the good work that the corporation is doing.”

Sharp had been accused of intercede for the granting of a personal loan of 800,000 pounds (900,000 euros) to Johnson before being placed at the head of the BBC, although he always denied that he had incurred a conflict of interest when he took the position, on February 16, 2021.

The former banker already had to appear before a parliamentary commission after ‘The Sunday Times’ published that the ‘premier’ had recommended him for the presidency of the public entity only a few weeks after he “helped her arrange collateral on a loan up to 800,000 pounds”.

In the independent report prepared by the lawyer Adam Heppinstall released this Friday, it is recommended to undertake “a review of the current rules on conflict of interest (…) that includes a new section that addresses the relationships and interactions between candidates and ministerial appointments , and how confidential or sensitive matters could be made public.”

The document also suggests “considering advice to high-ranking officials in relation to handling potential conflicts between ministers and candidates.”

At the end of 2020, when Sharp was an adviser to the Ministry of Finance, he contacted the chief of civil servants, Simon Case, with his friend Sam Blyth, a distant cousin of Boris Johnson, who wanted to assist him in his notorious financial difficulties. In his statement, Sharp admits that it was a fact that it went “unaware” when declaring possible conflicts of interest.

The BBC president notes that “Heppinstall’s view is that while I have breached the code governing public appointments, that breach does not necessarily invalidate an appointment,” Sharp said.

In reaction to Sharp’s resignation, The BBC board of directors has remarked that the director is “a person of integrity”, in addition to “a very effective president”. “We accept and understand Richard’s decision to resign. We want to record our appreciation to Richard, who has been a valued and respected colleague and a very effective Chairman of the BBC,” he says.

Sharp’s job had been in jeopardy since the ‘Sunday Times’ revelations, but his position became even more fragile after the scandal in March when the chain’s star presenter Gary Lineker was suspended for giving his opinions policies through social media.

Sharp’s critics contrasted the BBC’s reaction to Lineker with that of the corporation chairman himself when it emerged that he had not declared his involvement in the loan to the Tory premier.