BP backs Amanda Blanc to lead search for new chair despite investor concerns

BP has backed Amanda Blanc to lead its search for a new chair for a second time, shrugging off investor concerns over her role at the company after the shock departure of its chair last week.Some shareholders have voiced concerns over Blanc, the senior independent director at the British oil company, running the process again after Albert Manifold’s short stint as chair.However, the BP interim chair, Ian Tyler, said in a statement: “At the request of the board, Amanda Blanc will lead the search process for BP’s next chair. As in previous searches, this will be a rigorous process involving the entire board and the final decision will reflect our collective view.”Blanc, who is also the chief executive of the insurer Aviva, led BP’s search for a successor to Helge Lund in 2025 which resulted in Manifold’s appointment as chair last July.Manifold, the former boss of the Irish building materials company CRH, started his job in October, tasked with driving forward a shift in the oil company’s strategy to refocus on fossil fuel extraction and ditch renewable energy investments.He was removed a week ago after only eight months in the role, and Blanc said at the time that while he had helped drive BP’s transformation, there were “governance oversight and conduct issues it [the board] deems unacceptable”.Senior colleagues reportedly felt belittled by Manifold, while he was also seen as trying to exert control as if he were an executive rather than a chair.Manifold hit back at BP, accusing the company of firing him “without warning and without explanation”. He said last Wednesday: “I dispute entirely the characterisation of my conduct and I will not allow a false narrative to go unchallenged.”A string of City figures including large investors in BP have cast doubt over whether Blanc was the right person to lead the search for Manifold’s successor, the Financial Times reported.It is the latest boardroom turmoil at BP. Manifold quickly ousted the chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, who had been in the role for less than two years, and hired a former ExxonMobil executive, Meg O’Neill, in December. She started the role in April.Auchincloss had replaced Bernard Looney, who was forced out in September 2023 for failing to disclose relationships with colleagues when he was made chief executive.Even in his short time in the job, Manifold had riled some investors. At his first annual meeting in charge of the board, nearly a fifth (18%) of the votes opposed his re-election after he blocked a resolution by Follow This, a shareholder group focused on the environment.Follow This had asked the company to report on how it would protect shareholder value if demand for oil and gas fell.