Tuesday 26 May 2026 12:54 pm
Manifold served as BP's chair for less than a year
The chair of BP has been ousted after less than a year, after “serious concerns” about his conduct were raised with the energy major’s board.Albert Manifold was stripped his roles as chair and director of the London-listed petrochemicals giant having only taken the reins last July, with director Amanda Blanc saying the board had unearthed several serious governance issues during his tenure. “Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation,” Blanc, who is also chief executive at insurance giant Aviva, said in a statement. “However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”The decision extends a period of top brass turmoil at BP, which pushed out previous its chair Helge Lund less than a year ago over concerns about his ability to oversee the energy giant’s re-embrace of petrochemicals.Its executive team has also undergone several sudden reshuffles. Murray Auchincloss had served as chief executive for just under two years before he was ousted for former Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill. And before that, the company plunged into disarray when it emerged Auchincloss’s predecessor, Bernard Looney resigned over a relationship he had with a member of staff that contravened BP’s governance policy.Just a month before being ousted, Manifold suffered a major rebellion from shareholders at BP’s annual general meeting, with nearly a fifth of the group’s investors voting against his continuation as chair. AGM votes over board personnel tend to receive almost unanimous approval, meaning the vote against Manifold constituted a major dent to energy executive’s authority. In the run-up to the showdown, several of BP’s largest shareholders had raised concerns over the manner in which Manifold had sought to force through through changes to the energy major’s reporting and moving its AGMs online. This is a breaking news story, more to follow
