ACCA president sacked over discipline row
ACCA president-elect Ray Gardiner appeared to have been spectacularly unseated this morning after the association's ruling council voted 25-10 to support a motion of no confidence in his presidency.
The vote just before lunch means Gardiner’s name is now unlikely to go forward to the association’s agm this afternoon. An agreed statement after the council meeting said the vote had been taken ‘following discussion of various corporate governance issues’.
At a council meeting a fortnight ago current president Michael Foulds and at least four past presidents called for Gardiner to step down over his role in a disciplinary case involving Robert Jackson, the council member who was found guilty of backdating Norwich Union policy applications in order to get free shares.
A report to the council stated that under cross-examination Gardiner had admitted that his statement in support of Jackson had been drafted for him by a defence lawyer.
Among those believed to have been approached to serve as president if Gardiner is forced to stand down is current vice-president John Brockwell, Marks & Spencer divisional financial controller. As next year’s deputy president Brockwell from Shaftesbury, Dorset would have succeeded Gardiner as president in 2000.