Sorry Mrs May, But Employee-Directors Could Damage Our Best Boardrooms

Wow that was quick. Theresa May has wasted no time in putting a rocket up the City of London. In her speech launching her campaign to become leader of the Conservative Party, the future PM made plenty of encouraging sounds from a corporate governance perspective; her call to simplify bonuses and increase alignment with the long-term interests of the company is one proposal on which most people agree. And yes, I think, votes on pay should probably be binding. More concerning is her proposal to require companies to appoint employee-directors (EDs) and consumer-directors (CDs) to help ask “the difficult questions, think about the long-term and defend the interests of shareholders”.