Actors’ charity vote to reignite dispute involving Penelope Keith

A Charity Commission investigation into its own role in the row found it was wrong to have sided with the trustees who ousted Penelope Keith and others. Photograph: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

A long-running and acrimonious dispute at an actors’ charity involving some of the best-known names of the British stage and screen is to return to the spotlight next week amid claims of boardroom coups and electoral gerrymandering.

The quarrel at the £40m Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF) has also triggered fierce criticism of the Charity Commission. In a rare admission of fault, the watchdog has accepted it made serious errors in its two-year handling of the controversy.