Rishi Sunak should not name next BBC president after Richard Sharp fiasco, says David Dimbleby

Sign up for View email from Westminster for expert analytics straight to your inboxReceive our free email View from WestminsterPlease enter a valid email addressPlease enter a valid email addressI would like to receive emails about offers, events and updates day of The Independent. Read our privacy notice{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}An error has occurred. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Rishi Sunak should not nominate the next BBC president, veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby has claimed, after Richard Sharp resigned following a report that he had broken the rules when he applied for this.

Mr. Sharp, a former Conservative Party donor, resigned on Friday after a review by Adam Heppinstall KC revealed he had failed to disclose his role in arranging an £800,000 loan guarantee for the Premier minister at the time, Boris Johnson.

The report says Mr Sharp did not declare two "perceived potential" conflicts of interest: first that he had introduced a cousin of Mr Johnson's to the Cabinet Secretary who is secondly vouched for Mr Johnson's line of credit, and secondly that he had informed Mr Johnson of his intention to apply for the BBC post before submitting his application.

Mr. Sharp insisted he made the introduction "with the best of intentions" to ensure the rules were followed and apologized for the "omission". times

(PA Archive)

As the BBC says it decides on its chairman through a 'fair and open competition', final approval is given by the Prime Minister, who in this case was Mr Johnson.

Speaking on the BBC's Today program on Saturday, the former host of < em>question time, Mr Dimbleby said the appointments process should be changed to prevent prime ministers from having the final say on the appointment of the company's chairman.

Richard Sharp resigned Friday

(DCMS)

"There are so many lessons to be learned", a- he declared. "The key background is Boris Johnson himself, who rode with delight on all accepted practice. If you look at the Owen Paterson case, for example, he's taking a wrecking ball at the convention.

"In that case, he wanted Ric...