BBC chairman Richard Sharp has asked for a review into his appointment after claims he helped Boris Johnson secure a loan.
Mr Sharp said he wanted to ensure “all the appropriate guidelines have been followed” and has asked the nominations committee of the BBC board to review any potential conflicts of interest.
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“We have many challenges at the BBC and I know that distractions such as this are not welcome,” he said in a statement read out on BBC News.
Sunday Times reported Mr Sharp was involved in arranging a guarantor on a loan of up to £800,000 for Mr Johnson in late 2020, and that the then-prime minister went on to recommend him for the top job at the BBC.
A spokesperson for Mr Johnson called the report “rubbish” while both sides denied a conflict of interest.
In a letter to BBC staff – read out on the BBC News channel, Mr Sharp clarified some of the details surrounding the loan.
He confirmed he introduced billionaire Canadian businessman Sam Blyth to cabinet secretary Simon Case, “as Sam wanted to support Boris Johnson”.
“I was not involved in making a loan, or arranging a guarantee, and I did not arrange any financing. What I did was to seek an introduction of Sam Blythe to the relevant official in government,” he said.
“Sam Blythe, who I have known for more than forty years, lives in London and having become aware of the financial pressures on the then prime minister, and being a successful entrepreneur, he told me he wanted to explore whether he could assist.”
Mr Blythe is a distant cousin of Mr Johnson’s.
The statement was released moments after Mr Johnson said that Mr Sharp “knows absolutely nothing about my personal finances”.
Speaking to Sky News he said: “This is a load of complete nonsense – absolute nonsense.
“Let me just tell you, Richard Sharp is a great and wise man but he knows absolutely nothing about my personal finances – I can tell you that for 100% ding dang sure.
“This is just another example of the BBC disappearing up its own foundation.”
The BBC reported that Mr Sharp “has agreed with the board’s senior independent director that the committee shall look at this when it next meets and, in the interests of transparency, publish the conclusions”.
It comes after Labor called for an independent investigation into the process for appointing the chair of the BBC.
