BBC's next chair selection must be 'free of the sleaze that forced Richard Sharp to quit'

Labour's call comes amid growing pressure for Tory ministers to be banned from 'interfering' in the selection process, while the Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell called for a "root and branch review" of the nomination process.

Labor has raised questions over the plan to replace Richard Sharp (

Picture: BBC)

The selection of the next BBC chairman must be 'free from the cronyism and foolishness' that forced Richard Sharp to resign, Labor demanded yesterday.

The call comes amid growing pressure for Tory ministers to be banned from 'interfering' in the selection process, while Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell has called for a 'review from top to bottom" of the appointment process.

Mr. Sharp resigned after a report emerged that he failed to properly declare his involvement in helping Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan.

Ms Powell also demanded to know if he received any payment after stepping down from his top job on Friday.

In a letter to her Tory counterpart Lucy Frazer, she wrote: "Tory Prime Ministers who give jobs to friends have damaged the reputation of the BBC and undermined its independence. I fear that the appointment of a successor to Sharp doesn't get mired in the same cronyism and sleaze that has led to the current mess and I would like assurances that the process will be made more independent."

Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby wants a cross-party commission to name the next chairman, and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker tweeted: 'BBC chairman shouldn't be chosen by the government of the day . Not now, never."

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Ahead of his appointment as Chairman of the BBC, Mr Sharp spoke to the Cabinet Secretary about the offer of his friend, Canadian millionaire Sam Blyth, to help Mr Johnson with his financial problems.< /p>

Sir Peter Heppinstall's report revealed that Mr Johnson recommended Mr Sharp for the influential post after Mr Sharp informed the then Prime Minister that the meeting was to take place.

Sir Peter also noted the 'curiously murky' exchanges between Mr Sharp and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, and questioned whether the Cabinet Office should have briefed his colleagues in the Department for Digital, Culture, media and sports reviewing Mr Sharp's nomination of 'what was going on with the pr...