Coupe, whose position has been called into question in some quarters following the collapse of its £13bn mega merger with Asda, was re-elected by 99.5% of investors who voted at its annual meeting yesterday.

However, one Sainsbury’s shareholder dubbed the failed combination with its big four rival a “complete fiasco”.

Another stakeholder – a former Sainsbury’s employee – hit out at Coupe and the board for presiding over a slump in the share price that had “cost me and a lot of my friends a lot of money”.

Sainsbury’s share price dropped to 188p last month, its lowest level for around 30 years.