Who is Samir Shah? Indian-origin TV exec is UK government’s choice for next BBC chairman

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is all set to get its new chairman, a British-Indian TV executive, Samir Shah. Shah’s name was chosen by the government of the UK. Interestingly, BBC has always said that it is politically independent but its chairperson is still appointed by the government. 

Shah’s appointment came after Richard Sharp’s resignation over his failure to disclose that he had helped arrange a loan to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Shah, 71, has held a series of roles at the BBC, including as its head of current affairs. He said in a statement that he was “delighted” to have been named the government’s preferred candidate.

Here’s more about him.

Samir Shah was born in the Indian state of Maharashtra in Aurangabad in 1952. His family moved to England in 1960, where he attended an independent British school and got his degree in Geography from the University of Hull. He also studied for a DPhil degree at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in 1979.

Soon after this, he joined London Weekend Television, where he worked with John Brit (who later became the director-general of BBC) and Michael Wills (from whom he later purchased Juniper TV). 

In 1987, he was appointed BBC’s head of TV current affairs. Then from 1994 to 1998, he was the head of BCC’s political journalism programmes. 

It was in 1998, that Shah purchased Juniper TV from Wills on the latter’s appointment as the Member of Parliament. Juniper’s several programmes have been broadcast on the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Discovery and even Netflix.

In 1999 Shah was appointed OBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to equal opportunities in broadcasting. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2002, and in 2019 was awarded a CBE for services of heritage and TV. 

BBC welcomed Shah’s appointment and said that they are looking forward to his joining as the chairperson once the formal process is completed.

The DCMS (Culture, Media and Sport Committee) select committee will need to approve ministers’ choice for chairperson, before it is sent to the Privy Council and the King for approval.

(With inputs from agencies)