Samir Shah “Did Not Demonstrate The Strength & Character Needed To Challenge BBC Leadership,” Says UK Gov’t Committee

Max Goldbart
·2 min read
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Samir Shah “did not sufficiently demonstrate the strength and character needed to challenge BBC leadership” in areas such as political interference, the UK parliamentary committee that grilled him this week has said.

The Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC) said it has “serious reservations” about Shah’s “ability to provide the robust challenge that the BBC leadership requires at this time.” Its report on Shah’s three-hour hearing was critical of his refusal to engage with questions on BBC board interference in the Ofcom chair role, along with cuts to local radio and Newsnight.

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Shah was questioned several times on allegations that BBC board member Robbie Gibb pressured Ofcom to hire his preferred choice as chair, an accusation made in a recent book by former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and confirmed by a senior source to Deadline yesterday.

Shah, who used to work with Gibb, said he would have to wait until he was in post – if rubberstamped – to be able to give a view on Gibb’s involvement. Current acting Chair Dame Elan Closs Stephens has already said Gibb did not breach the BBC’s guidelines and Shah simply told the committee he will “not give answers based on a series of hypotheticals and allegations, but will first talk to Dame Elan about it.”

“In his evidence to us, Dr Shah did not sufficiently demonstrate the strength and character that is needed to challenge the executive leadership of the BBC,” said the CMSC’s report. “We have serious reservations about his willingness to offer his opinions and insight on some of the most fundamental issues facing the Corporation, and his ability to provide the robust challenge that the BBC leadership requires at this time.”

The CMSC did recommend Shah be appointed but asked that he return to the committee within the first three months of his appointment “to demonstrate that he has sufficiently considered and addressed our concerns.”

He was praised for weighing in in other areas such as his claim that Gary Lineker probably broke social media guidelines with a tweet attacking a Conservative Party politician last week. He had said he would write to the committee on other questions such as the cuts to Newsnight and local radio.

Shah cut a confident figure during the hearing and was bullish that the corporation needs to continue commissioning “distinctive” programing in the wake of content cuts, coming as a license fee funding blow looks set to lead to a further shortfall of around £90M ($114M).

He has worked in a number of roles for the BBC over the past three decades including running its political programing, and his brother is Mohit Bakaya, the head of Radio 4.

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