Racism storm is coup attempt, says Institute of Directors deputy

The deputy chairman of the Institute of Directors on Thursday labelled the racism claims against its chairman Lady Judge a “coup” as the organisation exploded into a chaotic power struggle.

The sensational charges against Judge — including her reported comments that “blacks can get aggressive” — emerged today in a draft report into her behaviour by law firm Hill Dickinson in the wake of internal complaints.

The report was commissioned by Dame Joan Stringer, the senior independent council member at the IoD.

Judge, who has temporarily stepped aside as chairman, said the way the claims emerged was “incredibly disappointing”.

Her deputy and close ally at the insitute, Sir Ken Olisa (pictured), told the Standard: “There has been a completely one-sided process. I don’t think Barbara has seen any evidence. She hasn’t seen this draft report… so she has not been able to correct matters of fact. So this whole process isn’t fair.”

He added: “There’s an attempt to unseat Barbara. There’s a deep-seated jealousy about Barbara and what she has achieved in life and this is coming out. The people who have been attacking Barbara have been led by this woman Dame Joan Stringer.”

Olisa said he had intended to call for the resignation of Stringer over the handling of the complaints at a nominations committee meeting today. Stringer, who was unavailable for comment, cancelled the meeting.

Olisa, who is the first black Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, was also implicated in the draft report for failing to act on the claims raised in the report, which included alleged comments from Judge that having “one black and… one pregnant woman… is the worst combination we could possibly have” on the IoD’s secretariat.

She is also alleged to have reduced her assistant to tears on more than one occasion.

Olisa hit back at those claims, adding: “I have written evidence that I acted on the complaints… for that to come up again is all part of the coup, and I am a big supporter of Barbara and that puts me in the crosshairs.”

The issue was due to be considered at a turbulent meeting of the IoD’s full council today.

Olisa’s memo to the board and council seen by the Standard said the organisation found itself “caught in the middle of a train wreck” and added that the handling of the episode “could have disastrous consequences for the IoD”, when the body should be focusing their energies on Brexit.