Hermes, the £22.6bn London fund manager well known for its views on corporate governance, is planning to withhold support from five directors of News Corporation at the company's annual-general meeting later this month, including founder Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan.

Jennifer Walmsley, a director of Hermes' equity ownership services division, its corporate-governance arm, said in a statement this morning that News Corporation had "not reacted with sufficient urgency to investors' concerns about its board composition and corporate culture."