Sharp’s resignation as BBC chair may be a problem for Sunak – and opportunity

theguardian.com:

Rishi Sunak used to work for Richard Sharp at Goldman Sachs. He brought him into government as an adviser during the pandemic. And on Friday he formally accepted his resignation as BBC chair.

Given the pair’s long relationship, Sharp’s resignation after failing to declare his role in facilitating an £800,000 loan for the former prime minister Boris Johnson might be expected to cause a political problem for the prime minister.

Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, sought to highlight that on Friday, saying: “Instead of doing what’s best for the country the prime minister was more interested in defending his old banking boss. The prime minister should have sacked him weeks ago. Instead it took this investigation, called by Labour, to make him resign.”

Many senior Conservatives believe, however, that Sharp’s resignation actually provides Sunak with an opportunity to put his own stamp on the BBC and emphasise the contrast with his predecessor’s style of government.

A Conservative MP said: “Sunak might have got Sharp into government, but he wasn’t involved in appointing him. The blowback should be minimal.”

Joe Twyman, the co-founder of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, said: “The fact that this appointment was made under Boris Johnson and his resignation is about Boris Johnson makes this relatively easy to deflect as something from the past.”

Twyman added that while the Tory party had been hurt by repeated allegations of sleaze, especially during the Johnson years, voters were not yet as angry about the scandals as they had been in the late 1990s, when the issue contributed to bringing down John Major’s government. “The Tories will be seen as sleazy, but that is just at a general base level, rather than relating to