David Cameron resigns as adviser to Afiniti following allegations against CEO

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has stepped down as a boardroom consultant for a technology company whose boss has been accused of sexual harassment and assault.

The news marks the latest setback for Cameron’s post-political career after he was embroiled in the Greensill affair earlier this year, widely seen as the biggest UK lobbying scandal in a generation.

Cameron has served as chairman of the advisory board since 2019 at Bermuda-based Afiniti, which provides call center technology to companies like Sky and Virgin Media.

Afiniti founder Zia Chishti was accused on Tuesday of pressuring a former employee to have sex with him on a business trip, and that he beat her and let her have sex with him. gave her “scratches, cuts and wounds”.

Testimony from Tatiana Spottiswoode before the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee comes as part of a hearing on the use of forced arbitration to silence victims of sexual violence and harassment.

A spokesman for Cameron said he had resigned from the advisory board with immediate effect. He added that the events took place before the former prime minister started working for Afiniti.

“He knew absolutely nothing about them until just before yesterday’s congressional hearing,” he said.

“Mr Cameron understands that the allegations are disputed, but disagrees with the approach the company has taken to respond to this matter. He made this point clear to Mr. Chishti yesterday.”

As chairman of the advisory board, Cameron oversaw strategic guidance for Afiniti’s management team and board. When he joined in 2019, Cameron said he would help “support the work to transform the future of customer service and interpersonal communications”.

Cameron is not on the main board, does not attend board meetings, and has no executive, management, or trustee responsibilities.

The tech group also hires Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom in its New York office and lists board members such as José María Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain.

Chishti, who also founded Invisalign, braces, did not immediately comment on Cameron’s resignation. Afiniti said on Tuesday night that “Chishti strongly opposes all the allegations against him”.

Cameron’s departure from Afiniti is the latest setback in his bid to build a new career since leaving Downing Street. The former prime minister played a big role in the Greensill lobbying scandal despite giving a keynote speech a decade ago warning that lobbying is “The next big scandal is waiting to happen“.

The Financial Times revealed in March of this year how Cameron lobbied the government to try to secure supply chain finance firms access to the Bank of England’s Covid-19 loan scheme.

He is an adviser to Greensill and relies on many former colleagues – including prime minister Rishi Sunak and former cabinet secretary Michael Gove – to try to expand the lending scheme to the benefit of the company.

Cameron has since admitted to lobbying mistakes for the company, though he says he hasn’t broken any rules.

The former prime minister has been paid more than $1 million a year by Greensill and given the right to buy shares that could be worth around $70 million if the company floats on the stock market as expected. Instead, after Greensill filed for management in March, the shares were worthless.

Greensill is currently the subject of more than a dozen investigations, including an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the “financing and business practices of companies within the Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance.” ), including financing arrangements with Greensill Capital UK”.

One of those requests, by Treasury Selection Committee, found he had displayed a “significant lack of judgment”.

Since leaving office following the Brexit vote in 2016, Cameron has made large sums of money giving speeches, on par with many other prominent former UK politicians. He has charged at least £120,000 an hour for speeches through his agency, the Washington Department of Speakers, which describes him as “one of the most prominent global influencers of the turn of the century”. 21″.

But other business ventures have gone terribly wrong, including one trying to set up a $1 billion Anglo-Chinese investment fund.

He agreed in 2017 to develop a UK-China partnership seeking fund that would focus on technology, healthcare, energy and manufacturing.

But potential investors, including banks like Standard Chartered and HSBC, have been reluctant to commit to the scheme despite early support from the UK and Chinese governments.