BBC chairman resigns over loan to ex-PM Johnson

BBC chairman Richard Sharp resigned on Friday after an independent report found he breached rules for public appointments in relation to a loan for then prime minister Boris Johnson.

Sharp said he had agreed to a request to stay on until the end of June to give the government time to find his successor.

The country's public appointments watchdog has been investigating the way in which Sharp was selected by the government to chair the broadcaster in 2021.

The report found that while he did breach the government's code for public appointments by failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest, it was also the case that a breach did not necessarily invalidate his appointment.

But Sharp said staying until the end of his four-year term would be a distraction from the broadcaster's "good work".

"I have decided that it is right to prioritise the interests of the BBC," Sharp said in a statement.

"I have therefore, this morning, resigned as the BBC chair to the secretary of state and to the board."