John Kerr wasn’t offered a final cigarette, but there was a moment on Tuesday when the former diplomat, chainsmoker and Royal Dutch Shell director looked to be facing the firing squad.

As the only member of the oil company’s remuneration committee up for re-election, he was the non-executive most likely to take a bullet for the board at the annual meeting. Lord Kerr lived to smoke another day – in fact, only 5 per cent of votes were not cast in favour of the former British ambassador to the US. But institutional investors’ other shot – the 59 per cent vote against Shell’s remuneration policy – should be heard around the corporate world.