BBC Chairman Richard Sharp prepares for a report on his appointment

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BBC chairman Richard Sharp braces for potentially damaging report on his appointment to post after helping facilitate £800,000 loan guarantee for Boris Johnson.

The former Tory donor was appointed to the influential role overseeing the public broadcaster's independence in 2021, but was called to step down after it emerged he had helped the Prime Minister at the time to arrange the loan.

The report compiled by lawyer Adam Heppinstall KC is due out on Friday morning, according to The Independent.

Sources have told The Guardian the report may prove uncomfortable for the BBC chairman to read.

The former Goldman Sachs banker has previously come under fire from MPs who reprimanded him for ‘significant errors of judgement’ in acting as a go-between for Mr Johnson.

Multipartyism The committee said his actions "constitute a violation of the standards expected of individuals" running for important public appointments.

Mr. Sharpe admitted introducing his friend Sam Blyth, a cousin of Mr Johnson who wanted to help him with his financial troubles, to the Cabinet Office in 2020.

In January the following year he was named the government's preferred candidate to be chairman of the BBC.

The Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed his nomination but were unaware of his role in facilitating the loan .

He officially took office for four years in February 2021.

But allegations of cronyism followed when the Sunday Times revealed the loan agreement.

Public Appointments Commissioner William Shawcross has announced he will review the way the competition for the post was run to ensure it was in accordance with Whitehall rules.

But Mr. Heppinstall was appointed to execute it when Mr. Shawcross recused himself because he had met the BBC chairman on several occasions.

The DCMS committee in February said Mr Sharp had made errors of judgment by failing to declare his role in the loan to the cross-party group of MPs before his appointment.

In the report, MPs said: 'The decisions by Richard Sharp, first becoming me...