BBC board member resigns and criticises 'governance issues' at top of corporation

A director of the BBC's board has resigned due to governance issues at the top of the company, according to him. Shumeet Banerji said in a letter that he was not informed of the events leading up to the dismissal of the director general's Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness's departures. Banerji resigned on Friday, according to the BBC in a tweet. BBC News has approached Banerji for comment.

Two of the BBC's top executives resigned earlier this year as a result of the downpouring of parts of a 2021 speech by US President Donald Trump's Panorama episode that edited together portions of 's 2021 address. Since then, questions have been raised in several quarters about the BBC's management. The board is in charge of the corporation's control and planning. Banerji seems to have issued a direct criticism of chairman Samir Shah and other board members. Banerji's resignation comes at a time for the BBC, with Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson expected to testify before the Culture Media and Sport Committee of MPs on Monday afternoon. Questions regarding political appointees on the BBC board have already been raised in Parliament (there are five, including Shah and Gibb). They will most likely be asked about allegations, first published in a leaked paper, that the BBC has systemic issues related to coverage of, for example, the Israel-Gaza conflict and coverage of sex and gender. That was rejected by Turness and Davie. The paper, written by Michael Prescott, who served as an outside consultant to the BBC's Editorial Standards Committee, was released by the Telegraph newspaper and also highlighted the Panorama edit. Since the editor's approval, the corporation has since acknowledged that

the incorrect assumption that President Trump made a direct call for violent action

on the day of the riot at the US Capitol building on January 6th 2021.

We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're sure to celebrate our brave senators and congressmen and women,

Trump said in a speech on January 6, 2021. And we fight, Trump said in the speech more than five minutes. We fight like hell. Trump has a second chance in the Panorama program. The edited clip shows him saying,

We're going to walk down to the Capitol. and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.

Trump has threatened to sue over the show, alleging that it had insulted him. Although the BBC has apologised, it has declined the president's request for financial compensation.

Banerji was

responsible for upholding and safeguarding the BBC's independence by acting in the public interest and exercising independent judgment,

according to the corporation's website. Banerji, a non-executive board member since 2022, is the founder of an advisory and brokerage firm that focuses on technology companies. He was the founder of Booz & Company, a management consultancy company. The BBC's 12-member board is charged with safeguarding the corporation's public service mission and setting the corporation’s strategic direction, which is largely funded by licence-fee payers. Members of the BBC's executive committee hold them accountable. Shah, a former documentary filmmaker, chairs the board.

Shumeet Banerji resigned today, according to a BBC spokesperson. Mr Banerji's term on the Board as a non-executive director was supposed to come to an end at the end of December, and we thank him for his service.

The hunt for a replacement is well underway, and we'll continue to update as time permits.