He had planned to present the proposals to the BP board on the day of the coup that shocked the City. The moves would have cut BP's board from 10 to eight members, with Dame Amanda among two non-executive directors earmarked for departure. The other BP board position the chairman wanted to scrap was held by Johannes Teyssen, a German former electricity boss, who had recently become chairman of the supervisory board at the airline Lufthansa. Mr Manifold believed Dame Amanda and Mr Teyssen should stand down after six years on the BP board and not be replaced. That would have meant Dame Amanda exiting in 2028, having been appointed in September 2022.