Pirc: ITV board should face shareholder vote

Pirc, the corporate governance body, has urged ITV board members to put themselves up for re-election.

The comments come after ITV’s talks with the former BSkyB chief Tony Ball broke down, leaving the broadcaster in search of a new chief executive and chairman once again.

“”Given that there is unease here, what would be the right thing is the whole board offering themselves up for re-election at next year’s AGM,” a Pirc spokesman told the Daily Telegraph.  “This is increasingly common when you have had a bruising encounter with shareholders.”

ITV board members currently stand for re-election every three years, which means Sir James Crosby, who chairs ITV’s nominations committee, is not up for re-election until 2011.

Sir Michael Grade, the current chairman, has confirmed that he will leave once his replacement is appointed.

New candidates in the running for Grade’s role include CBI president Helen Alexander and the former head of Reed-Elsevier Sir Crispin Davis.