The BBC will not show The Apprentice during an election period if Sir Alan Sugar takes the Labour Whip and becomes a vocal advocate of the government when he is elevated to the House of Lords, The Times understands.
The corporation is urgently seeking more information about the exact nature of the tycoon’s role as Gordon Brown’s enterprise czar after the Conservatives claimed that his continued involvement with the BBC’s programme would fall foul of the broadcaster’s political impartiality rules.
A sixth series of The Apprentice is pencilled in for transmission between March and June next year — the general election must be held before June 3, leading to fears of a clash.
Sir Alan said initially that he would be “politically neutral”, adding: “I don’t see this as a political thing.” But last night he confirmed he would take the Labour Whip, adding: “I will be a Labour peer, in the Lords, and taking the whip and joining the Labour Party.”
The BBC is seeking to clarify how much of a cheerleader for Mr Brown he plans to be, after he lavished warm words on the Prime Minister at the weekend. The broadcaster was in a similar position in 1998, when Melvyn Bragg was made a Labour peer and had to step down from presenting duties on Start The Week on Radio 4.
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The corporation is at pains to point out that Sir Alan’s programme is classified under entertainment, rather than news and current affairs, so his appointment does not carry the same political overtones as Bragg’s.
Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, wrote at the weekend to Sir Michael Lyons, the BBC Chairman, after No 10 said that it was putting Sir Alan forward for a peerage.
Mr Hunt said in the Commons yesterday: “This is something quite unprecedented where someone has their own weekly TV programme at the same time as being one of the main ambassadors for government policy in precisely the same area.
“If there is an election in June 2010 . . . The Apprentice will be being shown during the general election campaign. In that period would it be right for the BBC to carry on screening The Apprentice when its main star is a principal advocate of government business policy?”
Ben Bradshaw, the newly appointed Culture Secretary and a former BBC reporter, said that he did not foresee a conflict of interest. But the corporation is to meet Sir Alan to discuss the full nature of the role.
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The businessman is understood to be standing down as chief executive of Amshold, the holding company that oversees his businesses, to avoid accusations that he could benefit from rule changes while he is in position.
Peerages are confirmed by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. It must advise the Prime Minister if of any concerns about the propriety of a nominee. It is unlikely that Mr Brown would override the recommendation of the panel.
Sir Alan will be given an office in the Business Department in Victoria Street, and report in the first instance to Baroness Vadera. He will not draw a salary, or receive a day rate and will rely on his own transport. Officials say that he will act as an interface between business and government, informing government of the needs of small businesses and helping civil servants to understand their culture.
Downing Street tried yesterday to deflect accusations that there was no reason why he should be given a peerage. A spokesman said that it was always the Prime Minister’s intention to ask Sir Alan to enter the Lords.
Sir Alan said last night that the Prime Minister had initially asked him to become a government minister, but he rebuffed the approach. He told the Daily Mail: “That was discussed, and I said I can’t do that. That would have been a complete conflict of interest.”
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The tycoon insisted that the timing of the next Apprentice series would not have to change for an election.
He said: “I’m in constant contact with the BBC and they are very, very relaxed and happy with what I’m doing. The Apprentice is a selection process of people to get a job coming to work for me. I fail to understand why that in any way or form is a conflict of interest to me assisting the Government.”