BBC chairman ‘helped secure loan worth up to £800,000 for Boris Johnson’

Labour has called for a probe into the finances of the former Prime Minister (Picture: Bloomberg/Getty)

A BBC chairman reportedly helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan – of up to £800,000 – just weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then-prime minister.

Labour is calling for an investigation after allegations surfaced in The Sunday Times.

The newspaper reports that Tory donor Richard Sharp was involved in talks about financing Mr Johnson in late 2020.

Mr Sharp is believed to have introduced multimillionaire Canadian businessman Sam Blyth – who had proposed to act as the then-PM’s guarantor for a credit facility – to Mr Johnson.

According to the Sunday Times, the three men then had dinner at Chequers before the loan was finalised.

Mr Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker, was announced as the Government’s choice for the BBC chairman role in January 2021.

A spokesperson for Mr Johnson dismissed the Sunday Times report as ‘rubbish’ and insisted his financial arrangements ‘have been properly declared’.

‘Richard Sharp has never given any financial advice to Boris Johnson, nor has Mr Johnson sought any financial advice from him,’ the spokesman said.

Richard Sharp is said to have been involved in the PM’s finances from November 2020 (Picture: PA)

Mr Sharp told The Sunday Times: ‘There is not a conflict when I simply connected, at his request, Mr Blyth with the cabinet secretary and had no further involvement whatsoever.’

Labour has now written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg, demanding an investigation.

Party chair Anneliese Dodds cited the MPs’ code of conduct that ‘holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties’.

Anneliese Dodds has called for ‘serious questions’ to be asked (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

She added: ‘Serious questions need to be asked of Johnson: why has this money never been declared, and what exactly did he promise these very generous friends in return for such lavish loans?’

When contacted, a BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC plays no role in the recruitment of the chair and any questions are a matter for the Government.’

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