Chair and director of Smith Institute both resign

By Paul Jump, Third Sector Online, 8 August 2008

The chair and director of the Smith Institute have both resigned, three weeks after a Charity Commission inquiry criticised the think tank's trustees for not doing enough to protect it from claims that it was party political.

According to press reports, director Wilf Stevenson and chair Lord Haskel have both stepped down, though Haskel will remain a trustee. However, Stevenson, a close friend of Gordon Brown, denied that the resignations were linked to the Charity Commission inquiry. He said he had wanted to resign since 2006 but...