The ‘pre-appointment hearings’ system overseen by parliament’s select committees doesn’t exactly set the heart racing; a pale imitation of the American system, where presidential nominees (to the Supreme Court for instance) are savaged by senators sitting as a kind of hanging jury, our version is generally bloodless. Certainly Richard Sharp, the government’s candidate for chairman of the BBC, who dutifully presented himself for cross-questioning last week, emerged with never a scratch on him.
Under the British system (unlike the American) the committee has no power of veto — the worst they can do is publish a disobliging report on the candidate and hope that will be sufficiently damaging to stop the appointment; that was never going to be Mr Sharp’s fate. This was an armour-plated candidate with impeccable establishment credentials and a manner that combines imperturbability with a certain watchful steeliness. He treated the MPs with a cool politeness and showed no rancour when they tried to rile him.
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