SAMIR SHAH, the 26th chairman of the BBC, stands at the helm of one of the most cherished institutions in British life.
He is tasked not only with navigating a complex media landscape but also with redefining the role of public service broadcasting in a rapidly changing digital age. His appointment marks a significant milestone as he becomes the first person of colour to lead the BBC’s governance.
Some may see this as a testament to the evolving fabric of British society and a reflection of the institution's commitment to diversity and inclusion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Shah got the job because he was the best person.
“When you're working with Samir, don't expect to have any evenings off, and if the comma isn't in the right place, he wants to argue the case,” said his long-time close friend, Sir Trevor Phillips to the GG2 Power List.
“Be ready to have that argument till 6am the following morning, because he doesn't let go. He won't let everybody walk out of the room until they've actually got to the bottom of a puzzle, or we have worked out what we need to do. To be honest, I think in today's world, we need a little bit more of that brainpower and application to problem solving than we currently have.”
Shah is now a year into his job, and he has three more years left on four-year term.
He was born in January 1952 in Aurangabad, India and came to the UK with his family when he was eight. Shah supports Manchester United, and his half-brother, Mohit Bakaya, is the controller of Radio 4 and director of speech. To their credit, they maintain strictly separate professional lives, ensuring that no-one can question their integrity.
His 1980 Oxford University doctoral thesis, Aspects of the geographic analysis of Asian immigrants in London, hinted at what was to come. Phillips provided invaluable insight having worked with him for at the London Minorities Unit for London Weekend Television. First working on Skin, a pioneering programme for and about black Londoners, and another programme called Eastern Eye.
“We've worked together through the 1980s, and when Samir went independent, and bought Juniper [an independent production house]. I made some programmes for Juniper. For example, I remember a radio programme which was an interview with Marine Le Pen [France’s far-right leader], and then, depending on your view, a notorious documentary called What British Muslims Really Think?”
Shah’s early life experiences have profoundly shaped his perspective, and he has often described the BBC as the "background music" of his life, underpinning his journey through childhood in India and adolescence in Britain.
“The BBC is a profound force for good in this country, and central to our social and cultural life,” he said in a recent speech at Leeds Conservatoire, defending the institution’s legacy.
“No other country has a broadcaster that does what the BBC does for the UK. It is one of our truly world class organisations. It is recognised and respected wherever you go. For all its
faults, what an extraordinary achievement by the people of this country the BBC is. Only here, with our pathological addiction to running ourselves down, do we call that into question. Only here do we take a perverse delight in bashing our finest national institutions. Only here are we prepared to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Shah faces a myriad of challenges, not least the impending renewal of the BBC's Royal Charter in 2027 – now two years away.
Critics see this as a stealth tax for what they derogatorily describe as the state broadcaster and mouthpiece for the government. Nothing could be further from the truth, as governments of all colours know. Cast your mind back to 1987 and the interview the day after Nigel Lawson’s budget when the chancellor accused Today presenter, Brian Redhead, of being a Labour party supporter. Or, Labour’s Alastair Campbell eventually getting the heads of the then director general, Greg Dyke, and chair, Gavyn Davis, after false claims that he had ‘sexed up’ the Iraq dossier, Tony Blair’s case for going to war in 2003.
Shah must be hoping that he does not to go the same way as two of his predecessors (Davis and Richard Sharp), hence why he defends BBC values.
“The BBC is funded and owned by the public,” he stressed in his Leeds speech. “It can only be truly accountable to everyone, if it serves everyone, wherever they live. By doing so, the BBC can better articulate the full diversity of thought and opinion that exists in this country.”
His immersion in the media landscape has equipped him with a nuanced understanding of both the opportunities and challenges facing the BBC.
One is giving the BBC back to the communities it serves, as he articulated in his speech, “We have embarked upon a much more substantial decentralisation. Programmes, people, and production have been steadily moving out of London for many years. This major project is well underway, not least with the BBC news teams that have recently relocated here in Leeds and of course there are now major production offices in Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol and, of course, Salford. The BBC’s move to Salford is a wonderful success story.”
And the shift of power from London will continue under his watchful governing eye. “I am keen that we dial up our commitment to devolve, or perhaps more precisely – to further distribute – the BBC around the country. We need to drive more BBC jobs, teams, and programmes across the UK. We want audiences to really feel the BBC is connected to their community.”
Phillips described Shah as “someone who has built a business” and who understood the intricacies of public service broadcasting.
“He is very used to the machinations of bureaucracies and official life in the public office in a way that the BBC could have, as it did previously, a chair who came with the experience of running some big City business, and we've seen their pitfalls with that,” Phillips explained.
“What they're getting is somebody who understands government, understands public office, understands the public, and is versed in the management of public sector bureaucracies. I don’t know what his political views are, but they're not at all going to affect how he carries out the job, because he'll address things as proper, practical problems to be solved. He's very pragmatic.”
Shah will need that pragmatism to secure a deal which secures the BBC’s long-term future, as he alluded in his Leeds speech. “The charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC, typically renewed every 10 years or so, and which effectively allows us to exist. I was surprised to learn that other organisations brought into being by Royal Charter such as The British Council, the Bank of England have no such expiry date. Should we consider the BBC also having a permanent charter like the others?”
That certainly will be something for the government to think about.
