Police have been called in to investigate amid suspicion of electoral fraud at an actors’ hardship charity supported by King Charles, in the latest twist to a long-running leadership power struggle.
The Actors’ Benevolent Fund (ABF) said on Monday morning it had disregarded 156 online votes cast at its board elections held earlier this month after completing an internal investigation, carried out when it emerged the votes had come from just two digital mailboxes.
“This accounts for over 50% of online votes coming from just two IP addresses. It appears a crime may have been committed and so this matter has been reported to the police and the Charity Commission,” it said in a statement.
The ABF said it did not know who was responsible for the apparent voting irregularity or how they had done it, but that it had “substantial reason” to doubt the votes’ veracity after a number of members confirmed they had not cast the online votes that were in their name or approved any proxy votes on their behalf.
Critics of the ABF immediately questioned the internal investigation, which was carried out by the charity’s own lawyers. They argued it had not been held independently and the charity had failed to take specialist IT advice.
The incident is the latest in the feud between a group of trustees ousted in 2022, headed by the To the Manor Born actor Dame Penelope Keith, and a rival cohort of “modernising” trustees. The handling of the dispute by the Charity Commission has also caused controversy.
The ABF, which has assets of about £40m, operates hardship funds to support actors and stagehands in England and Wales who need financial or medical help. Its patron is King Charles, and famous past presidents include Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud. The fund gave £900,000 in hardship grants to 430 beneficiaries in 2022.
The elections were held this month at an annual general meeting in London, when more than 100 of the ABF’s 750 members turned up in person. The ballot was suspended after votes had been cast and counted when concerns were raised about the online voting.
The organisation said that after the subsequent invalidation of the suspect votes, six candidates who would otherwise have been elected, including the actors Miriam Margolyes and Robert Bathurst, failed to become board members. All six had not been formally endorsed by the ABF and are seen as supporters of Keith’s faction.
The subsequent vote recalculation ensured the slate of 12 candidates who had been formally recommended to members as trustees by an independent nominations committee on the grounds of their skills and suitability were duly elected to the board, including the actors Simon Callow and Lesley Joseph and the TV personality Rob Rinder.
The ABF said in a statement: “These candidates will form our new board and our priority now is to focus on the core purpose of the charity, which is to support the acting and stage management community in need.”
A spokesperson for former trustees, members and donors of ABF said it was confident that all of the new trustees would prioritise the charity’s purpose and focus solely on its beneficiaries.
They said: “We trust that the newly elected ABF council will seek to unify the membership and heal past divisions. We are sure that with the support of the hugely experienced and independent co-opted trustees the council will ensure that the charity is in safe hands.”
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “The ABF has been subject to a long and damaging dispute, which has not served the interests of the charity or its beneficiaries. The commission had required that the charity hold free and fair trustee elections by the end of January, and we hope that, following the outcome announced today, the charity can now move forward in unity in delivering on its important charitable purpose.”
