LONDON, March 13 (UPI) -- Vodafone's honorary life president Christopher Gent resigned, increasing speculation of a deep divide within the mobile carrier's board.
Gent said in a statement late Sunday that "if there is a 'whispering campaign' or 'conspiracy,' which I very much doubt, then I am not party to it."
He added that "when I was an executive at Vodafone, relationships within the company and at board level were characterized by openness and trust. We were mercifully free of company politics and blame culture."
In a separate statement Monday, however, the group's chairman Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth said, "I want to make it clear that I and the board are totally supportive of our chief executive, Arun Sarin, as he takes the company forward in changing and challenging times. Any other suggestion is completely untrue."
