THE Government’s candidate for chairman of the BBC has been approved by MPs despite “serious reservations” about some aspects of the appointment of Samir Shah.
The Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee said on Friday that it had “serious reservations about his willingness to offer his opinions and insight on some of the most fundamental issues facing the Corporation”, following a pre-appointment hearing this week.
While MPs said Shah (below) was “appointable”, the committee expressed doubts about “his ability to provide the robust challenge that the BBC leadership requires at this time”.
“If the Government chooses to proceed with the appointment of Dr Shah as Chair of the BBC Board, we expect him to appear before the Committee within the first three months of appointment to demonstrate that he has sufficiently considered and addressed our concerns,” MPs said in short report following Wednesday’s hearing.
READ MORE: Who is Samir Shah? New BBC chair who dislikes ‘woke warriors’
The veteran TV executive was named earlier this month as the Government’s preferred candidate to become BBC chairman.
But he had to face a grilling by MPs before taking up the role.
SNP MP John Nicolson (below) said he was "booked and then cancelled" for a BBC radio programme after he grilled Shah during his hearing.
The committee, chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage, said Shah in his evidence “did not sufficiently demonstrate the strength and character that is needed to challenge the executive leadership of the BBC”.
READ MORE: BBC 'cancels' SNP MP's Radio 4 appearance after grilling chair candidate
The role was vacated earlier this year by former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp, who resigned after failing to declare his connection to an £800,000 loan made to Boris Johnson.
Shah is currently chief executive of award-winning production company Juniper TV, which makes a number of political and current affairs programmes.
He was previously the BBC’s head of television current affairs, and later ran the BBC’s political journalism department at Millbank.
At his hearing, he made headlines after suggesting that Gary Lineker’s recent tweets about politicians appeared to breach the BBC’s social media guidelines.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokeswoman said: “We thank the committee for their report, which confirms the committee’s view that Dr Shah is appointable for the role of BBC chair. Dr Shah’s over 40-year career in TV production and journalism coupled with his ambition to see the BBC succeed make him well equipped to take on the job.
"We will review the committee’s recommendations in greater detail and respond in due course.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel