Money

Race to head Bank of England still wide open


UK chancellor Sajid Javid and prime minister Boris Johnson are still considering at least two candidates for the role of Bank of England governor, contrary to speculation that they have a preferred candidate, sources close to the process have told the FT.

In recent days, the BBC has speculated that Minouche Shafik, currently head of the London School of Economics, was about to become the first female governor of the central bank, while ITV has suggested former deputy governor Paul Tucker had been chosen for the role.

Sources with knowledge of the process, however, said there had been no decision, there was no favoured candidate and more than one person still had a realistic chance of getting the job, widely seen as the most powerful unelected position in the UK.

The FT understands that the list of people interviewed and regarded as “appointable” includes Dame Minouche; Shriti Vadera, chair of Santander UK; Andrew Bailey, who heads the Financial Conduct Authority; and current deputy BoE governors Ben Broadbent and Jon Cunliffe.

Sir Paul indicated earlier this year that he was not interested in returning to the BoE, which he left in 2013 after losing out to Mark Carney in the race to become governor. But he has not responded in the past week to questions regarding his current interest in the job.

Mr Carney is due to leave the post at the end of January but the Treasury on Thursday said no decision would be announced until after the December 12 general election. It declined to comment on any individuals.

The choice will be made by the chancellor and prime minister in the new government. BoE and senior Treasury officials have advised ministers it would be wrong to finish the process before the election and would potentially compromise the successful candidate.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has repeatedly said that he would want a governor more “in tune” with his views, so officials feared that any appointment before the election could have led to a conflict between the BoE and government to the detriment of economic and banking regulation.

Dame Minouche has long been seen as a frontrunner for the position, having been a former deputy governor of the BoE before leaving to head the LSE. Her CV includes stints at the World Bank, IMF and permanent secretary of the government’s Department for International Development.

She has recently signed a deal to write a book about the divisions in society entitled What do we owe each other? A new social contract for the 21st century.

Sir Paul took an academic position at Harvard university after leaving the BoE and wrote a book in 2018 entitled Unelected Power, which challenged the wisdom of super-powerful independent officials, concluding that central bankers should not become overmighty citizens.

Neither had a close relationship with Mr Carney. He has indicated that he would be willing to stay on for a few additional weeks if the next government finds it difficult to appoint a successor quickly.

The Treasury, however, is resistant to the idea of another extension to Mr Carney’s tenure in the role, which had originally been expected to end in June 2018.





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