Richard Sharp appeared before a blunt Commons committee for what all knew was a mere rubber-stamping exercise
What do you call Rishi Sunak’s former boss at Goldman Sachs, Boris Johnson’s former economic adviser when he was London mayor, a former member of the Bank of England financial policy committee, an unpaid adviser to the chancellor during the coronavirus crisis and a man who has donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative party over the past 20 years? As of April, you will be calling him the new chair of the BBC.
So it was understandable that these connections dominated the early exchanges of Richard Sharp’s pre-appointment appearance before the digital, culture, media and sport select committee. The ever urbane Sharp professed himself to be rather nonplussed by all the attention. He was sorry news of his appointment had been leaked early, but what could you do when your new job was overtly political and you were surrounded by gabby government ministers?
