Aznar shines in News Corp shareholder approval test

Former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar has received good marks from media giant News Corporation's shareholders.

In a vote late Monday on the renewal of News Corp's board of directors, the former two-term leader of the conservative Popular Party government in Spain received 89 percent of total shareholder votes in favor of his re-election, the fourth best rating among directors.

Aznar joined the News Corp board in 2006, two years after declining to stand for a third mandate as prime minister in elections held in 2004, which were surprisingly won by the Socialist Party. Aznar was a prominent supporter of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

However, Chairman Rupert Murdoch's son James suffered most from the fallout of the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp. Over a third of the votes went against his re-election. Of the 65 percent of votes in favor, 40 percent came from members of his own family. Rupert Murdoch received an approval rating of 84 percent.