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James Murdoch retains chairman role at BSkyB

James Murdoch has been re-elected as BSkyB chairman despite a fifth of shareholders voting against him.

Provisional figures announced at the annual general meeting held in London gave Murdoch 81.24% of the vote against 18.76%. A number of key shareholders voted against him as they believe a fully independent chairman should hold the post rather than an executive of News Corporation.

Murdoch is deputy chief operating officer at News Corp which owns 39% of BSkyB, Sky’s largest shareholder. In July the organisation had to withdraw its $12bn offer for 61% of BSkyB following the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

Murdoch had the backing of 75.4% when votes withheld were taken into account, with 17.4% opposing his reinstatement and 7.2% withholding. Furthermore, he received the support of 55% of independent shareholders when excluding News Corporation votes.

Life Investments, which manages six million shares in BSkyB, voted against Murdoch’s reappointment.

Dean Kelly, London