The Co-operative Bank is facing a rescue plan which will see majority control turned over to investors including US hedge funds, after it was left with a £1.5 billion gap in its finances following the takeover of the Britannia Building Society in 2009.
Mr Flowers, a former Bradford councillor, now faces a police investigation. He has apologised over the scandal and been suspended by the Methodist Church as well as the Labour Party.
Mr Wardle's departure will see him replaced by his deputy, Ursula Lidbetter, chief executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative.
The Co-operative Group said: "It is intended that Ursula will chair the group through the current governance review, which will include consideration of how the board is constituted and chaired."
Just hours after Mr Wardle announced his departure, the former Co-operative banking chief who instigated its merger with Britannia Building Society defended the move.
Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee, David Anderson said: "I fully accept that the deal turned out to be not as attractive as we thought it was going to be - but I don't believe it brought down the bank."
But he said that three years after the merger, the bank was hailed in a Treasury report as a "strongly capitalised mutualised business".
"For some considerable time afterwards, this didn't look like a daft thing to do.
"I believe it was the right decision to take at the time given the information that we had."
Sounds like he missed his true calling......a career in politics.
mozzy 5:47pm on Tuesday, 19th November 2013 Report This Commentit just gets better and better good gried.
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