Ministers will seek next week to avoid controversy by appointing a Welsh arts figurehead as interim chairman of the BBC, following the departure of Richard Sharp.
Dame Elan Closs Stephens is set to get the green light as interim BBC chair from Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, according to people briefed on the matter, and is expected to hold the post for many months, for a crucial period for the broadcaster public service.
Frazer is told by his colleagues that he is determined to conduct a thorough search for a permanent replacement for Sharp, who left his post as chairman of the BBC last month after being embroiled in a row over a loan to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Sharp, a Conservative Party donor and former Goldman Sachs mentor of Rishi Sunak, has emerged as a controversial figure at the helm of the BBC, but Closs Stephens is unlikely to follow suit.
Closs Stephens, a non-executive director of the BBC’s board of directors who acts as a member for Wales, is a career academic and champion of the Welsh arts. She helped shape Aberystwyth University’s focus on communications and the creative industries, and chaired Welsh-language broadcaster S4C.
People close to the appointment process for the interim BBC chairwoman said Closs Stephens was seen as a ‘safe pair of hands’ – with one describing her as ‘hugely experienced, hugely respected, but not no longer seen as wanting to take on the role full-time”.
A BBC insider said: “Elan is highly regarded, highly respected and understands the BBC.”
The planned appointment of Closs Stephens as interim chairman of the BBC comes with support from the company’s board, according to people familiar with the decision-making process.
The council can recommend a preferred candidate to ministers, but the final decision rests with the culture secretary, as the chairman of the BBC is a government appointment.
Frazer was expected to back Closs Stephens’ nomination next week, a senior government official said.
Closs Stephens is set to serve as chairman of the BBC for some time – as the company plots its next steps to compete in the global TV market increasingly dominated by large US tech groups – given that the process of appointing a permanent successor to Sharp has not even officially begun.
Damon Buffini, Deputy Chairman of the BBCis seen as a prime candidate to permanently replace Sharp.
Sharp announced his resignation as chairman of the BBC last month after an investigation found he broke public appointment rules by failing to declare the help provided to Johnson that led to him getting a £800,000 loan.
He will remain until the end of June and those involved in the search for an interim BBC chairman have said a permanent replacement may not be in place until the end of the year.
Lord Ed Vaizey, a former culture minister, said after Sharp’s departure that Sunak needed to ensure the BBC’s appointments process was “flawless”. Gary Lineker, the BBC’s top football presenter, said politics should be removed from the process.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that it is appointing an interim chairman of the BBC from among the existing non-executive members of the company’s board. “We will make an announcement in due course,” a spokesperson said.
The BBC declined to comment.