Thankyou Cargocat.
I specifically referred to stakeholders not shareholders for a reason.
It has been known for years that the shareholders have no teeth, happy to take the dividends without any real governance.
Once MAPLC mortgaged its debt-free business to buy EMA and BOH by over 100% of MAN's capital value, the banks rightly insisted on a say in how the company was run. They did this principally by replacing the existing FD with Philip Ridal, a City of London type, who would bring some semblance of competence to the previously amateurish corporate governance standards.
The other stakeholders (tenants, airlines, retailers etc.) absolutely have a say in how the company is run, not least because their own businesses depend on MAN being run well. Never mind the council tax payers: many of them only fly once a year, if at all, and some of them have no idea how a company should be run.
Following my own logic, perhaps the way forward for MAPLC is for the councils to sell their shares to airlines, retailers etc. who might have more idea how to run it well, not to mention a business-led motive to do so. Just a thought.