The BBC chairman facing calls for an investigation into his appointment studied at Oxford University. 

He has come under fire this week amid claims he helped Boris Johnson secure a loan weeks before the then-prime minister recommended him for the role.

Richard Sharp, a former banker, who is in his 60s, worked for more than 30 years in the financial sector, including a 23-year stint at investment giant Goldman Sachs, where he was reportedly mentored by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Before this, he worked in both commercial and investment banking for JP Morgan.

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Mr Sharp, who read philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University, is also a former chairman and an emeritus trustee of the Royal Academy.

He reportedly acted as an informal adviser to Mr Sunak at the beginning of the pandemic and played a key role in the creation of the Government's £1.57 billion culture recovery fund.

He was also a member of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee from 2013 until 2019, and sits on the board of the Centre for Policy Studies, the think tank founded by former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s.

Mr Sharp's appointment as chairman of the BBC, during one of the most turbulent periods in its history in February 2021, was widely regarded as political.

At the time, the corporation faced scrutiny over equal pay, diversity, free TV licences for the over-75s and competition from streaming services like Netflix.

Mr Sharp, who is a multimillionaire and has appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List, is a long-term donor to the Conservative Party and sat on Boris Johnson's board of economic advisers when he was London mayor.

During his tenure at the BBC, he has defended the broadcaster on numerous occasions and used his platform to highlight the importance of journalism in speaking "truth to power" while lamenting the threat of disinformation faced by the industry.

In 2021, he denied the controversy over the hiring of Jess Brammar as head of news channels had "tainted" her appointment, after her impartiality was questioned following the emergence of old tweets in which she was critical of Brexit.

Last year he criticised the Government's two-year freeze of the licence fee, describing it as "disappointing" and saying it will lead to "tougher choices" that will affect viewers.

But later in the year he said the board "welcomes an informed debate" about the future funding of the broadcaster and "nothing should be off the table".

He also said former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis was "completely wrong" to suggest that "due process wasn't followed" after she criticised the way the corporation handled her Newsnight speech about Dominic Cummings.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1