Lenny Henry says next BBC chair needs to ‘recognise importance of diversity’

‘It’s important that the public record of anyone being considered for key public appointments is scrutinised’

Sir Lenny Henry has said that the next head of the BBC should be someone who “recognises the importance of diversity, inclusion and representation”.

His comments come amid claims that former Telegraph editor Charles Moore is wanted by prime minister Boris Johnson for the role.

Moore has been criticised for his past comments about minority groups, including Muslims, black people and LGBTQ+ people, as well as the BBC itself.

Speaking with The Guardian, Henry said: “I think it is important that the public record of anyone being considered for key public appointments is scrutinised. That is the role of the media and key public institutions.   

“I sincerely hope the process will lead to the appointment of someone who recognises the importance of diversity, inclusion and representation both in front and behind the camera.”

Some of the criticism levelled at Moore concerns an article from The Spectator in 1992, in which he wrote: “The Korean sets up the grocery store which the black then robs: that is the caricature which modern America recognises.”

“Why has this happened then? One explanation, made endlessly in conversation and hardly ever in print, is that there really is something different about blacks, or at least about black men, or at least about young black men.”

Henry is just one of many voices to have spoken out against Moore’s prospective appointment as BBC chair.

The Muslim Council of Britain also condemned the idea, referencing several articles that Moore had written about Islam.

“Islamophobia in the public space cannot and should not be further entrenched by elevating someone like Charles Moore to the helm of the BBC,” a spokesperson said.