Former People’s Vote executive and boardroom coup-commander Roland Rudd has brought his formidable leadership and staff relations skills to his new role as chair of the Tate. His staff are now urging people to not visit the shops or galleries he chairs…
📢 Don’t visit the shops or the galleries, visit our pickets and protests ! Will be far more culturally enriching we can assure you🔥 #SaveTateJobs pic.twitter.com/PcU8eycH59
— PCS Tate United (@Tate_United) August 18, 2020
To have your staff walk out once could be regarded as misfortune, for it to happen twice is a pattern…
The latest front for the Remain campaign is presenting itself as a campaign for “Less power in the hands of the ruling elite and more in the hands of the people”. Guido can confirm, however, that the man behind the curtain is the personification of the elite in Britain – Roland Rudd. When Rudd isn’t lounging in his opulent multi-million pound mansion, he’s lucratively lobbying for bankers and big businesses…
Democracy Unleashed’s privacy policy makes clear the campaign is a front for Open Britain, making clear OB runs the campaign’s website. Open Britain (formerly ‘The In Campaign Limited’), lists multi-millionaires Roland Rudd, Richard Reed, and Sangeeta Sidhu-Robb listed as its three directors on Companies House. Ten other directors including James McGrory and Will Straw resigned at the end of 2019 following a bitter boardroom coup…
Whispers around Westminster point to Democracy Unleashed becoming a campaign for proportional representation aimed at forcing the Labour Party to commit to this in the 2024 election – despite the organisation not mentioning PR at all in its petitions or social media. A source close to the People’s Vote campaign tells Guido this new campaign is being staffed by the few people “weak enough and untalented enough to capitulate to Roland Rudd for a pay cheque whilst watching their colleagues be literally locked out of their offices and worse.” All is not happy in former Remaintopia..
Sadly, Rudd’s anti-elite, pro-transparency campaign is not transparent at all about its governance structure. Rudd, Reed, and Sidhu-Robb are listed as the only directors of both Open Britain and PV Campaign Ltd, yet the websites of Democracy Unleashed and Open Britain mention no names and include no contact details, beyond an email to opt-out of messages. Consequently Guido has some questions to publicly ask the new campaign…
- Who chairs the new initiative? What is Rudd’s role?
- What role do PV Campaign Ltd play in the governance of Democracy Unleashed and who currently sits on their board?
- Who are “the elite” referred to in their mission statement? Do they include millionaires like Rudd, Geeta Sidhu-Robb, Richard Reed and Hugo Dixon?
- What efforts did you make to consult the 500,000 people on the Open Britain database about the change in direction?
- What have you done with the hundreds of thousands of pounds raised from grassroots donors that was left in the Open Britain bank account when Rudd launched his coup?
Guido looks forward to receiving answers…
PR Masterclass from @RolandRudd pic.twitter.com/9TQWrlZpZl
— Euro Guido (@EuroGuido) November 22, 2019
Roland Rudd’s disastrous handling of the whole People’s Vote saga does remind Guido of the spin-doctor paradox; why do they have such low reputations and invariably bad personal public images? Rudd has now tasked headhunters to find a new CEO for his People’s Vote campaign after the last one, Patrick Heneghan, was ousted amid allegations of him being a sex pest made by young female campaigners who said he had a penchant for drunkenly inviting them back to his place for cocaine. This is the brief from the headhunters Attenti looking for a replacement:
PV Campaign Ltd (People’s Vote) is the holding name of the organisation that aims to unify the main pro-European organisations into a single legal entity and become the designated pro-European referendum campaign if such a referendum is called. The People’s Vote board currently comprises : Anne Weyman, Geeta Sidhu-Robb, Richard Reed and Roland Rudd.
If the Conservatives fail to win a majority in the General Election, there will probably be a referendum. In that scenario, we must hit the ground running. We are therefore delighted to open the selection process to recruit a high calibre Chief Executive.
The Chief Executive will report to the Board and be responsible for building and leading a diverse, dynamic new organisation.
If the Tories win a majority, it is all over for Rudd’s campaign anyway…
The People’s Vote Campaign is on the verge of total collapse, according to some insider reports. Other reports are more blunt, simply saying “we’re f*cked”…
The end looks on the horizon for the group following Roland Rudd’s sudden departure as chair of Open Britain on Friday evening, after his boardroom coup and ousting of James McGrory and Tom Baldwin from the organisation – followed by a staff walkout – 20 days ago.
Whilst Rudd has left his former deputy, Anne Weyman, in charge of things, the People’s Vote campaign has now completely purged all its heavyweights, with Open Britain terminating Mandelson, Will Straw and Joe Carberry as directors earlier last week. Insiders do note, however, that Rudd remains in charge of Baybridge – the group in charge of Open Britain, meaning their worries over his influence haven’t totally subsided.
Yesterday, two of the People’s Vote sub-groups – For our Future’s Sake (FFS) and Our Future Our Choice – formally announced their split from the group, saying “Boardroom plots by rich men like Roland Rudd cannot be allowed to jeopardise the future of this country.” Guido spoke with a member of FFS who said:
“Literally all we want to do is come and work as part of the People’s Vote campaign. There is a negotiated settlement which was painstakingly put together… Rudd, Weyman and co seem to actively want this to carry on.”
The settlement was negotiated from Tuesday to Friday last week, and workers say is designed to make them “feel safe at work, secure in their jobs and meant we could actually get on”. Security in their jobs just looks like a pipe dream for them at the moment…
Roland Rudd invited People’s Vote staffers to a meeting with him in the Hilton next door to the Millbank Tower campaign HQ. Two heavies with a clipboard were guarding the corridor to the meeting room. The heavies refused entry to campaign veteran James McGrory, and despite trying to blag his way in Tom Baldwin got the “your name’s not on the list, you can’t come in” treatment. Shocking scenes…
UPDATE: According to reports, after a lively meeting with Roland Rudd this morning People’s Vote staffers voted to no confidence him and their new chief executive, Patrick Heneghan. A source in the room claims only 3 staff members (including Heneghan) supported the new Rudd regime.
Guido hears that Roland Rudd and Patrick Heneghan are currently boycotting their own People’s Vote meeting – called for 9 a.m. this morning – because Baldwin and McGrory are present and he refuses to address them.
The People’s Vote campaign staff are currently waiting for him to stop having a tantrum and address the meeting he called. Who could have anticipated the People’s Vote were capable of such incompetence…
UPDATE: Looks like the staff are turning against Rudd…
.@RolandRudd told both the @FT and Radio 4 that he’s constantly in and out of the People’s Vote office and knows staff well. I’m in the office every day and I’ve never met him.
— Charlie Atkins (@kinsCharlie) October 28, 2019
UPDATE II: Rudd in classic coup behaviour, now broadcasting propaganda from a TV station – Sky…
UPDATE III: Tom Baldwin launches into a succession of snide comments against Rudd, claiming there was a “boardroom coup”…Â but denying there is any chaos.
