Timing

Is the resignation of Shumeet Banerji from the BBC Board, six weeks before his four year term of office was due to end anyway, performative politics - or something more serious ?

It's taken Mr Banerji a full 12 days to decide on his action, after the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness.  He's cited 'governance issues' and claimed he was 'not consulted' in the lead-up to the executive departures. 

It's even more clear evidence of a serious board split. Banerji missed the key meetings, but has clearly been catching up with pro-Turness colleagues on the top body; and has finally decided it's an important enough issue on which to de-stabilise chairman Samir Shah, to the point he probably has to go, too. 

Shah and governance ?  He came in with an odd style of running Board meetings, in which all non-execs are in turn asked to comment on every agenda item, in order. He insisted that the non-executive side must have fully read and digested all papers ahead of the discussions, and declare so; evidence of that from 2024: 

 

Mr Banerji was appointed under the business-focussed chairmanship of Richard Sharp, who chose to highlight Mr Banerji's experience of business and technology; interestingly, on appointment, Banerji's quote was  “The BBC is built on a foundation of trust with audiences. It is an exciting time to join the BBC Board because trust in the media has never been more vital, and there are so many opportunities for the Corporation.”