The City of London’s reputation for corporate governance has taken another hit after BP’s chairman was forced out over allegations of bullying. The shock departure, announced late Tuesday, has sent ripples through the energy sector and reignited debates about accountability at the highest levels of British business.
For years, BP has positioned itself as a leader in the transition to cleaner energy, but this episode exposes a more troubling side to the company’s leadership. The chairman, who had been in post since 2019, was accused of creating a culture of fear and intimidation. Multiple whistleblowers, including senior executives, described a pattern of aggressive tirades and demeaning comments that left staff feeling unsafe.
One insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the behaviour had become “normalised” within the boardroom. “People were too scared to speak up. It was a toxic environment that stifled debate and innovation.”
This is not an isolated incident. The City has seen a series of similar scandals in recent years, from the collapse of Carillion to the sexual harassment allegations at the top of the London Stock Exchange. Critics argue that the UK’s corporate governance code, while lauded globally, is failing in practice. Too often, the culture at the top is allowed to fester until it becomes a crisis.
For the workers on the front line, this matters. A boardroom that tolerates bullying is a boardroom that overlooks safety risks. For BP, with its history of catastrophic accidents, this is a particularly chilling thought. The company’s share price fell 2% in early trading, as investors digested the news.
The ousting comes at a delicate time for BP, which is trying to navigate the energy transition while facing pressure from climate activists and shareholders alike. The new chairman will have to restore confidence not just in the boardroom, but in the company’s ability to manage its affairs without such damaging distractions.
Yet for many, the real lesson is about who gets to sit on these boards. The “old boys’ network” still dominates the upper echelons of British business. A recent report by the Hampton-Alexander Review found that while gender diversity has improved, class and ethnicity remain stubbornly skewed. The BP chairman’s background, a former civil servant and banker, fits the mould.
What is needed, say campaigners, is a fundamental shift in how we hold directors to account. The current system of self-regulation, where boards police themselves, is not working. Calls for a more powerful version of the Financial Reporting Council have been ignored by successive governments, which are reluctant to be seen as “meddling” in business.
But the public mood is changing. The cost-of-living crisis has made people acutely aware of the gap between the boardroom and the kitchen table. When a chairman can be paid millions while workers struggle to pay their bills, the demand for better governance becomes about more than just rules. It is about fairness.
For now, BP will conduct an internal review. But the question remains: how many more bullying scandals will it take before the City wakes up to the rot at its core?
