BP's boardroom implosion shows that no one — not even the chair — is above a whistleblower report
The decision was unanimous, immediate, and — in the language of British corporate announcements — expressed with the kind of compressed severity that leaves little room for ambiguity. BP's board removed its chairman, Albert Manifold, on Tuesday with immediate effect, citing "serious concerns" related to "important governance standards, oversight and conduct." Manifold had been in the role for seven months. He did not respond to requests for comment.
The story behind the terse official statement was, as is so often the case in such situations, more detailed in its telling. Reuters cited four sources, including one close to BP's board, who described a pattern of alleged aggressive and verbally abusive behaviour directed at colleagues across different levels of the organisation. The Wall Street Journal reported that the board had been told Manifold was verbally abusive and bullying and had also shared privileged information with unauthorised recipients while withholding information from the board. One source told Reuters that a whistleblower report had been significant in enabling the board to establish a pattern sufficient to justify immediate termination.
For HR and governance professionals across Asia, the BP case has regional resonance. In Singapore, where Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters triggered considerable public backlash last week for describing the bank's workforce reduction as replacing "lower-value human capital" with technology, the question of how leadership conducts itself — in public statements, in investor forums, and behind closed doors — is acutely live. HRD Asia has been tracking how the gap between leadership behaviour and employee experience is gene…, with Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace report finding that just 20 per cent of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025 — and that most CEOs remained insufficiently concerned.
The board that hired and fired
One of the more uncomfortable aspects of the BP episode is that the person who most prominently announced Manifold's removal — Amanda Blanc, the senior independent director — was also the person who had led the process that appointed him eight months earlier. Blanc, who is also chief executive of insurance group Aviva, had described Manifold at the time of his appointment as having "a relentless focus on performance which is well suited to BP's needs." She had said she was "delighted" to have concluded the appointment.
On Tuesday, she said the board had been "surprised and disappointed" by what it had learned.
That surprise is itself a governance question. Manifold's alleged conduct — described as a pattern extending across multiple colleagues at different levels — does not typically emerge fully formed seven months into a new role. The sources cited by Reuters used the word "pattern," which implies repetition. This raises questions that boards everywhere, not only BP's, may need to reflect on: what does a pre-appointment due diligence process actually probe for, and does it include substantive behavioural reference checking at the senior-most levels?
HRD Asia has reported on research showing a systemic gap in how organisations invest in board-level…, with the focus of most governance reform efforts remaining at the operational level rather than in the boardroom itself. The BP case is a pointed reminder that boards are workplaces too — with human dynamics, power imbalances, and accountability gaps that require the same structured management as any other part of an organisation.
A history of instability
BP's leadership record over the past three years has been, to put it charitably, unusual for a company of its scale. Former CEO Bernard Looney resigned in 2023 after admitting he had not been fully transparent with the board about personal relationships with colleagues. Murray Auchincloss, appointed to succeed him, departed abruptly in December 2025 after less than two years in the role. Former Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O'Neill took over as CEO in April 2026 — her fifth predecessor in six years. Chairman Helge Lund attracted historically low shareholder support before departing. And now Manifold follows him.
"The announcement of Albert Manifold's departure is certainly a surprise, albeit BP has had more than its fair share of senior personnel leaving the company abruptly over the past 20 years," said Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, referring to former CEOs including Lord Browne, Tony Hayward, Bernard Looney and Murray Auchincloss.
Morningstar's Lindsey Stewart was direct. "At this point it's fair to say BP has the most volatile boardroom of the oil supermajors," he said. "With a resurgent share price so far this year, BP should be taking credit for the rewards of its strategic reset. Instead, the company is on its third CEO and now its third chairman in under three years."
Ian Tyler, a former chief executive of Balfour Beatty who has been on BP's board since April 2025, steps in as interim chair. A permanent appointment process will begin.
BP shares fell as much as 9 per cent in London before paring losses to trade down around 4 per cent by day's end. The company's stock remains up approximately 20 per cent year-to-date, driven by the oil price surge since the Iran war began in late February, and supported by first-quarter profits that more than doubled to $3.2 billion.
