BBC chairman Richard Sharp faces calls to resign over Gary Lineker meltdown

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BBC chairman Richard Sharp faces growing calls to resign amid Gary Lineker's impartiality row that has sparked an unprecedented crisis in the within the company.

Roger Bolton, a former senior BBC executive, has joined calls from opposition parties and media figures for Mr Sharp to resign.

Mr. Bolton said the president had been compromised by the investigation into whether he failed to properly share details of his involvement in facilitating an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson when he was at No10. /p>

"The chairman of the BBC must now resign," he told GB News. "The very fact that he can't speak out on the subject and stand up for the BBC and define impartiality, as chairman of the BBC, means he can't do his job. So I have scared he has to go."

Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said Mr Sharp was "totally unable" to handle Lineker's crisis because he is compromised by the Johnson nexus investigation.

"His position is now increasingly untenable. I think he should, at this point, consider whether he is capable of doing this very job." important," she told Times Radio on Sunday.

She wrote to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer demanding that Mr. Sharp's position be "urgently clarified," saying that his involvement in securing a loan for Mr Johnson has 'deeply damaged the perception of the impartiality of the BBC'.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called Mr There had an "urgent need for the BBC to "urgently protect their independence".

This comes as Lineker's son said he believed the sports presenter would return to Match Of The Day< /em > – but that he would "not go back on his word", after appearing to compare the Conservative language on small boats to 1930s Nazi Germany.

General Manager Tim Davie is also under pressure, but insisted he would not give up. He hinted at a raid, admitting the BBC's impartiality guidelines were unclear - adding that he wanted to 'make sure he can get back on the air'.