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divdiv class=story-body readability=59 span class=story-date#13; span class=date19 November 2013/span#13; span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time06:11 ET/span#13; #13; /span#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The Co-op Group chairman has resigned, saying serious questions have been raised by the scandal over its former banking chairman, Paul Flowers. /p#13; pMr Flowers apologised after he was filmed allegedly buying drugs, while the Co-op has said it is investigating. /p#13; pQuestions have also been raised about Mr Flowers's competence in the role, to which he was appointed in 2010. /p#13; pLen Wardle, who led the board that appointed Mr Flowers, said he felt it was right that he stepped down now./p#13; pMeanwhile David Anderson, former chief executive of the Co-op Bank, is appearing before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, where he is giving evidence about the troubled bank and its takeover of the Britannia Building Society. /p#13; span class=cross-head'Real change'/span#13; pThe company said Mr Wardle had resigned as chairman of the group and from the board with immediate effect. He had held the position since 2007 but announced last month that he would retire in May 2014./p#13; pThe recent revelations about the behaviour of Paul Flowers, the former chair of the Co-operative Bank, have raised a number of serious questions for both the bank and the group, Mr Wardle said in a statement./p#13; pI led the board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the bank board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now./p#13; #13; pMr Wardle said the time is right for real change in the company's operations and governance./p#13; pHe will be replaced by Ursula Lidbetter, who is the Co-op Group's deputy chairwoman and chief executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society. /p#13; pMr Flowers, who was chairman of the bank from April 2010 until June this year, was filmed allegedly ordering cocaine and boasting about his use of other banned substances in a video published by the Mail on Sunday./p#13; pThe Methodist minister and former Bradford City councillor said his actions were stupid and wrong. He has been suspended from both the Labour Party and his church. /p#13; pFollowing the revelations, the Co-op Group said it would launch a fact-finding process to look into any inappropriate behaviour and a review of its democratic structure, which will look at how the board is constituted and chaired./p#13; span class=cross-head'Fit and proper'/span#13; pThe scandal has also prompted pressure on City regulators to introduce tougher checks on candidates for senior banking roles. /p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13; blockquote readability=1p class=first-childI don't think the Co-operative Bank got the political nous they thought they were paying for”/p/blockquote#13; span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditReverend Geoff Reid/span#13; #13; #13; /div p id=story_continues_2Conservative MP Brooks Newmark questioned how Mr Flowers could have been appointed. /p#13; pClearly he was not fit to be in that position and while obviously his performance was lamentable, I also think unfortunately that the regulators should be held to account on this. They should have done their due diligence to see whether Mr Flowers was fit and proper to run a major financial institution, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme./p#13; pFormer CBI director general, Lord Digby Jones, told Today there should be more rigorous implementation of the regulations surrounding appointments./p#13; pBut he added it was unlikely Mr Flowers would be appointed to the same role now./p#13; pGeoff Reid, a Lib Dem councillor in Bradford and retired Methodist minister who has known Mr Flowers for 30 years, told BBC Radio 5 live: He [Mr Flowers] can be very generous, very gifted as a speaker either in the pulpit or the council chamber, and at the same time he can be subject to incredible lack of judgement. /p#13; pI don't think the Co-operative Bank got the political nous they thought they were paying for./p#13; span class=cross-head'No grasp'/span#13; pMr Flowers appeared before a committee of MPs earlier this month, during which he appeared to have no grasp of basic facts about the bank, according to BBC business editor Robert Peston. /p#13; pHe said Mr Flowers had never worked in the banking sector in any senior capacity, but had been appointed chairman of the Co-op Bank as a result of a power struggle within the co-operative movement./p#13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13; !-- This is the embedded player component --#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- wwrights check --#13; !-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13; #13; #13; #13; div class=videoInStoryC readability=1#13; div id=emp-24999781-114361 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71197000/jpg/_71197056_71197055.jpg alt=Paul Flowers/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionPaul Flowers struggles with figures at Treasury Select Committee/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13; #13; /div#13; !-- end of the embedded player component --#13; #13; !-- Player embedded -- pOur correspondent said Mr Flowers' rivals in the movement had been surprised and disappointed when his appointment was approved./p#13; pDavid Jackman, head of ethics at the Financial Services Authority until 2003, said it was disturbing Mr Flowers had made it through the vetting procedure./p#13; pAndrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, who headed up the recent banking standards commission, said MPs saw that Mr Flowers was manifestly unsuitable for the job when he appeared before MPs on 6 November./p#13; pThe Mail on Sunday said he was filmed buying the drugs days after being grilled by the MPs./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center