BP has removed its chair, Albert Manifold, with the oil company’s board citing serious concerns about “important governance standards, oversight and conduct”. The FTSE 100 company announced Manifold’s departure with immediate effect on Tuesday, after only eight months in the role.
BP’s share price slumped briefly by 9% in the minutes after the announcement before closing down 4%. Amanda Blanc, senior independent director at BP and chief executive of Aviva, said: “Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation. However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”
Reports indicated that Manifold’s conduct was considered too aggressive by other directors, and he was seen as trying to exert control in the manner of an executive rather than a chair. The Financial Times reported that senior colleagues felt belittled by Manifold, and that newly installed chief executive Meg O’Neill had bristled at some of his interventions.
Manifold was appointed as BP’s chair in October 2025, after serving as chief executive of Irish building materials company CRH. He was tasked with continuing a strategic refocus on fossil fuel extraction and ditching renewable energy investments. He ousted former chief executive Murray Auchincloss after less than two years and hired O’Neill in December.
Manifold is the second senior leader at BP to lose his job for conduct reasons within three years. His predecessor, Bernard Looney, was forced out in September 2023 for failing to disclose sexual relationships with colleagues. BP has appointed Ian Tyler, a board member and former chief executive of Balfour Beatty, as interim chair with immediate effect.
