IOD chairman Lady Judge resigns amid racism row

THE chairman of the Institute of Directors has quit with immediate effect after becoming embroiled in a row over alleged racist and abusive behaviour.

Earlier this week, Lady Barbara Judge stepped aside temporarily to contest the allegations made in an internal report, which had accused her of making racist and sexist comments and bullying staff.

She was suspended by the council yesterday and resigned yesterday afternoon, along with the Iod’s deputy chairman Sir Ken Olisa, who had criticised the investigation.

It emerged that one of the key pieces of evidence against Lady Judge was a secret recording of a conversation between her and Stephen Martin, the body’s director-general. The recording was apparently made by Mr Martin and sent to the body’s governing council.

Mr Martin yesterday declared the resignations a victory for good governance, as well as for “ordinary staff members, who had the courage to risk jeopardising their careers, to speak out ... about the conduct and language of people in very senior positions”.

In her resignation letter, seen by the BBC, Lady Judge said: “Although I strongly object to the breach of trust arising from the secret recording of a private conversation, I accept that the language used when discussing the employment situation of individuals with protected characteristics was not of the modern standard. I deeply regret the language I used and apologise if this caused any distress or upset.”

She insisted she had a “life-long firm commitment to ethnic minorities” and still “strongly refutes” the allegations. She also attacked the “flaws” in the process, accusing the IOD of not giving her a right to reply.

Lady Judge, a Sunday Telegraph columnist, made her name in 1980 as the youngest ever official at the US markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission.