Failure and humiliation have not sat often on the broad, solid shoulders of Lord Levene of Portsoken, the self-made peer with a textbook career in the City. So he will want his part in the biggest recruitment cock-up in recent corporate history to be sorted out as quickly as possible.
The chairman of Lloyd’s of London and former Lord Mayor of London is now head of the nominations committee at J Sainsbury. He has to find a new chairman to save the UK supermarket group after Sir Ian Prosser was hounded out by shareholders even before the ink of his signature on the contract had a chance to dry and before he had the opportunity to assume his new role.Sir Ian’s previous corporate failures were considered too difficult to swallow and shareholders these days can be a nasty, unforgiving bunch.In an astonishing display of vehemence, the Sainsbury shareholders objected en masse to the proposed appointment and the company had to back down, sending Sir Ian away with his tail between his legs. “I look at some of these assertions about Maori being a privileged minority and think ‘what planet are people on?’” she said.Seeds of discord were planted before Dr Brash became opposition leader. White New Zealanders were outraged by a court ruling last June that opened the way for Maoris to seek exclusive ownership of the coastline and seabed. Maoris were equally outraged when Ms Clark hastily announced new legislation to prevent them from lodging such claims.The fall-out from Dr Brash’s speech has been ugly.

National Day celebrations this month were marred by violence, and Dr Brash had mud thrown in his face. New Zealanders can expect a lot more mud-slinging between now and the general election.. He responded by sacking Ms Te Heuheu, a highly respected lawyer and feminist trailblazer, replacing her with a white male MP who does not speak the Maori language.The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, accused him of sowing disharmony and sullying New Zealand’s international reputation She also took issue with his central theme. It often compares itself favourably with Australia, its neighbour across the Tasman Sea. But beneath the surface, resentment is boiling about the perceived unfairness of policies designed to give justice and equality to a disadvantaged minority.In his speech, Dr Brash vowed to eliminate seats reserved for Maori MPs, to repeal “divisive race-based” legislation, terminate the process of compensation for land confiscated by European settlers and do away with welfare payments and special funding for Maoris.

He attacked idealised notions of indigenous culture and said Maoris should forget their historical grievances and stop expecting favouritism.”There is a limit to how much any generation can apologise for the sins of its great-grandparents,” he said, warning of a “dangerous drift towards racial separatism”.The speech was condemned by Dr Brash’s own Maori affairs spokeswoman, Georgina Te Heuheu, the Nationals’ only indigenous MP. His “anti-Maori” stance – as some commentators view it – has transformed the Nationals’ fortunes, placing them in pole position to fight an election due by next year. He has also shattered a long-standing political consensus on race issues and exposed a bitter rift in wider society.New Zealand prides itself on being a bi-cultural nation where indigenous people are treated with dignity and respect. According to a poll published this week, support for his conservative National Party has jumped by 17 per cent, putting it ahead of the ruling Labour Party for the first time in six years.The surge in popularity is attributed solely to the race issue, the one theme on which Dr Brashhas campaigned consistently.