Dame Elan Closs Stephens has been named as the BBC's interim Chairman to succeed Richard Sharp, who has stepped down. Stephens will remain in this role for up to a year.
Stephens is a Welsh member of the BBC Board. Until a permanent appointment is chosen by the government, she will serve in the role of Chair for the next year, as reported by Deadline.
Dame Elan Closs Stephens, the Successor to Departing Richard Sharp
From 2019 until 2022, Stephens oversaw the BBC's commercial division after having spent her whole career working in broadcasting, the creative industries, and academia.
According to The Guardian, she has held positions as head of S4C (the Welsh fourth channel supported by the BBC) and emeritus professor of communications and creative industries at Aberystwyth University, in addition to serving on the Electoral Commission.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said that Stephens would give "stability in the leadership of the BBC while a process to appoint a new permanent chair is run."
Stephens said he was humbled by the appointment. "As a board, we will champion the license fee payer across all of the UK; ensure the BBC is a vital partner for the UK creative industries and maintain trust and drive change to make the BBC fit for a fast-changing media landscape," she added.
After the scandal surrounding Sharp's role in a loan guarantee for ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he was replaced by Stephens.
The incident made headlines for months, and he finally resigned in April when the Public Appointments Committee released a scathing report saying he had broken appointment regulations. It was revealed that Sharp had breached protocol by concealing his involvement in assisting the Tory prime minister in securing a loan guarantee of £800,000 (about $900,000).
Sharp has continued to work there since then, although he has always planned to quit in June.
More About Richard Sharp and the Loan Scandal
Prior to his appointment in 2021, Sharp was instrumental in connecting Johnson with a wealthy patron who guaranteed Johnson a loan of up to £800,000.
Sharp has been accused of degrading the image of the BBC, the UK's national broadcaster and one of the world's preeminent news organizations, by proposing a prospective patron for Johnson prior to his appointment as head of the BBC.
Sharp claims he only introduced Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and senior civil servant, to Sam Blyth, a Canadian business mogul and distant cousin of Johnson.
Upon resigning, he expressed regret for both the slip-up and the inconvenience these events caused the BBC.
