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BBC headed by Sharp is unlikely to champion universality in news, education and culture
On Thursday afternoon the government’s preferred candidate for the chair of the BBC, Richard Sharp, will appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee as part of the process that leads to his formal appointment to a four-year term at the apex of the BBC hierarchy.
When news of Sharp’s appointment broke last week, left-leaning commentators were quick to call it another example of Tory cronyism: Sharp has given more than £400,000 to the party or its MPs since 2001. He is also reported to have mentored the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at Goldman Sachs and to have acted as an economic adviser to
Boris Johnson when he was
London mayor.