Sir Malcolm Rifkind is to part ways with consumer goods giant Unilever following the MP’s departure from Parliament in a cash-for-access scandal.
Rifkind will leave the board of the London and Rotterdam-based company, where he has held a seat since May 2010, at the upcoming general meeting. Unilever chairman Michael Treschow thanked Rifkind for his contribution as a non-executive director.
The Tory MP was caught in a sting, alongside Labour counterpart Jack Straw, by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme and The Daily Telegraph offering services to a fictitious Chinese company for money. The former foreign secretaries both referred themselves to a parliamentary watchdog and denied any wrongdoing.
It has sparked a debate about whether MPs should be allowed to earn second incomes on top of the £67,000 a year they make representing their constituents.
Rifkind, who has been dubbed the “Hon. Member for Unilever” by some papers, makes more than £80,000 a year for sitting on Unilever’s board. He will not seek reelection at the group’s annual general meeting on 29 and 30 April, Unilever said today. Rifkind sat on the nominating and corporate governance committee.
Byron Grote, Kees Storm and Paul Walsh are also stepping down as directors. “I would like to thank Byron, Sir Malcolm, Kees and Paul for their contributions as Unilever non-executive directors,” Treschow said. “They have each brought invaluable experience to the Unilever boards and been a great source of advice and guidance for the business.”
He added: “Sir Malcolm has been a valuable member of the Unilever boards and has played an active role in both the corporate responsibility committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee.”
Treschow said Rifkind, Grote, Storm and Walsh all left with the group’s “best wishes”.
Laura Cha, Louise Fresco, Ann Fudge, Jean-Marc Huët, Mary Ma, Hixonia Nyasulu, CEO Paul Polman, John Rishton, Feike Sijbesma and chairman Michael Treschow will seek reelection to the board at the AGM.
Dr. Judith Hartmann and Nils Smedegaard Andersen will also join the boards of Unilever as non-executive directors. Hartmann will take up the position of CFO at energy firm GDF Suez from 16 March and Andersen has been group CEO at Danish conglomerate Maersk since 2007.
Treschow said: “I am very pleased that Judith and Nils have agreed to be proposed to join the boards. They are both distinguished in their fields and will further strengthen the financial and industry expertise of the boards, which will add considerably to the business.”
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