BBC Chairman Richard Sharp resigned yesterday after an independent report found he breached rules for public appointments about a loan for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sharp said he had agreed to a request to stay on until the end of June to give the government time to find his successor.

The country’s public appointments watchdog has been investigating how Sharp was selected by the government to chair the broadcaster in 2021, a Reuters report said yesterday.

The report found that while he did breach the government’s code for public appointments by failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest, it was also the case that a breach did not necessarily invalidate his appointment.

But Sharp said staying until the end of his four-year term would be a distraction from the broadcaster’s “good work”.

“I have decided that it is right to prioritize the interests of the BBC. I have therefore, this morning, resigned as the BBC chair to the Secretary of State and to the board,” Sharp said in a statement.