SIR Christopher Gent, the former chief executive of Vodafone, yesterday mounted a dramatic attack on his embattled successor as he walked away from his position as life president of the company.

The unprecendented move came as Vodafone’s chairman, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, was forced to issue his second statement in two days, expressing support for Arun Sarin, the chief executive, who is fighting to retain his position at the company.

Sir Christopher took the unusual step of issuing a statement a fortnight after boardroom infighting at the mobile phone giant broke into the open — and denied that he had any role in a “whispering campaign” or “conspiracy” against Mr Sarin.

However, his statement included some barely concealed criticisms of his successor’s management style — although Mr Sarin was not mentioned by name. “When I was an executive at Vodafone, relationships within the company and at board level were characterised by openness and trust. We were mercifully free of company politics and blame culture,” it read.

Vodafone, which has struggled under Mr Sarin’s two and a half year tenure, declined to comment on Sir Christopher’s remarks. Sir Christopher, though, made his own verdict on the company’s current situation clear: “Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Vodafone recover from its present difficulties, deliver value to its shareholders and resume its global leadership role.”

Sir Christopher, Vodafone’s chief executive until 2003, was awarded the honorary title of life president on his departure as a mark of his achievement in creating the company. The title carried no salary, nor any advisory responsibilities, but was a symbolic link to the business that few former chief executives are allowed to retain.

In the past three months Vodafone has been reeling from a disastrous interim results announcement, which included the revelation of a previously undisclosed £5 billion tax bill. The company wrote down £28 billion after last month admitting that growth would slow, and then said that it was willing to sell its Japanese business.

The series of crises are thought to have prompted Lord MacLaurin to consider sacking Mr Sarin, but that he was unable to muster support from enough board members. While Penny Hughes backed the chairman, others such as Americans Paul Hazen and Michael Boskin did not.

On Saturday Lord MacLaurin issued a statement in an attempt to counter the rumours. Denying that he had any plans to confront Mr Sarin on his return, Lord MacLaurin said that he had the “complete backing of the board”.

However, Vodafone’s chairman then came under pressure to issue a more personally supportive statement. The second statement read: “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.”

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