Gareth Fuller/PAW e d n e s d a y 1 8 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 A FINANCIAL TIMES 3
N AT I O N A L
C H R I S G I L E S
The position of Bank of England gover-
nor, held by Mark Carney, who is due to
step down in January, stands out as one
of the most powerful in central banking.
Mr Carney chairs the Monetary Policy
Committee that sets interest rates, the
Financial Policy Committee that con-
trols the safety of the financial system,
and the Prudential Regulation Commit-
tee that ensures the safety of individual
banks.
He also leads the BoE’s management,
represents the UK in G7 and IMF meet-
ings, and is the main communicator of
central bank policies. In a deeply hierar-
chical organisation, Mr Carney ends up
taking most of the crucial decisions.
The government fired the starting
gun on the race to succeed him in April
when the Treasury advertised for the
next governor, with an annual salary of
£480,000. The job specified the success-
ful candidate should “have led a large
financial organisation”, “the ability to
maintain global confidence in UK finan-
cial services”, and “significant under-
standing of the workings of government
and regulators, gained through memb-
ership of relevant public-sector boards,
industry bodies or working groups”.
It added the candidate should also
have “acute political sensitivity and
awareness”.
This appears to be a nod to Mr Car-
ney’s outspoken views about the poten-
tial economic damage resulting from
Brexit have made him deeply unpopu-
lar with Eurosceptic politicians.
The job ad was issued when Philip
Hammond was chancellor, and he had
hoped for a world-class international
candidate to succeed Mr Carney, but
potential contenders, Raghuram Rajan,
former governor of the Indian central
bank, and Janet Yellen, former head of
the US Federal Reserve, did not apply.
Many of those thought to be on a
shortlist of candidates compiled by
Treasury civil servants and an inde-
pendent member have many of the
skills the government is seeking, but
none has them all.
Shortlist takes shape for BoE top job
Many of the candidates to succeed Carney as governor of the central bank are said to tick most, but not all, of the boxes
G E O R G E PA R K E R— BOURNEMOUTH
Jo Swinson closed a heady Liberal
Democrat annual conference with a
pledge to fight Brexit and become prime
minister, declaring: “There is no limit to
my ambition for our party.”
Ms Swinson, in her first conference
speech as Lib Dem leader, denounced
the “tired old parties” and accused Boris
Johnson, the Conservative leader, and
Jeremy Corbyn, his Labour counterpart,
of either explicitly or implicitly allowing
Brexit to happen.
“People across Britain deserve a bet-
ter choice than an entitled Etonian or a
1970s socialist,” she said at the end of
the gathering in Bournemouth attended
by a record number of activists.
Ms Swinson’s speech sharpened the
pro-EU party’s position on Brexit, where
she committed to revoking the Article
50 exit process without a second refer-
endum in the unlikely event the Lib
Dems win the next election.
She did not mention a second vote to
overturn the 2016 EU referendum
result, although the Lib Dems support a
second referendum if they have to work
with other parties to stop Brexit.
But the speech also contained clues to
problems ahead for the Lib Dems, des-
pite a surge in membership to 120,
from 50,0000 in 2015 and the recent
defection of six MPs from the Labour
and Tory benches.
While Ms Swinson’s party has a sharp
message on Europe, many of its other
policies lack political impact or defini-
tion. The flagship announcement in her
speech was a New Zealand-style “well-
being budget” to ensure that govern-
ment policy made people happier as
well as better off.
Details were thin on how this might
work: David Cameron, the former pre-
mier, also had the idea of building poli-
cies around a “happiness index” before
sidelining it as an indulgence during the
austerity years.
Other policies included an extra 1p on
income tax to fund the National Health
Service, the creation of a green invest-
ment bank, more spending on mental
health, tree-planting and a requirement
for companies to declare the impact
of their operations on the climate. But,
as Ms Swinson said: “The first task is
clear. We must stop Brexit.”
The problem facing the Lib Dems is
what they do if, as is possible, Mr John-
son delivers Brexit before the next gen-
eral election.
If that happened the Lib Dems would
need to quickly develop some policies
and decide whether they wanted to
become a party committed to taking
Britain back into the EU.
Ms Swinson said she wanted to be
“Britain’s next prime minister” but pri-
vately most senior figures say the party
will have done well if it can secure 25 per
cent of the vote, up from about 18 per
cent now, and more than 100 seats.
The party will face tough questionsabout how it would use its influence in
the event of a hung parliament. “Vote
Swinson, Get Corbyn” is likely to be the
message on Tory leaflets in marginal
seats across the country.
Ms Swinson has said she would never
do a deal to support Mr Johnson or Mr
Corbyn in power, suggesting the Lib
Dems could back a more moderate
leader of the Tories or Labour.
Until her election as Lib Dem leader in
July, Ms Swinson, who served as a junior
employment minister in the Tory-Lib
Dem coalition government, was barely
known to the public.For that reason Chuka Umunna, a
recent recruit from the Labour party,
said the 39-year-old leader will be a
“wild card” at the next election, a fresh
face amid a cast of familiar opponents.
Ms Swinson is firmly rooted in the
political class that many voters profess
to despise. The London School of Eco-
nomics graduate had a brief career in
marketing before becoming MP for East
Dunbartonshire, north of Glasgow, in
2005 at the age of 25, making her the
“baby of the House”.
However she will position herself at
the election as the youthful outsider try-
ing to break the two-party grip on UK
politics. Nick Clegg briefly captured the
public imagination at the 2010 election
with a similar pitch.
Ms Swinson’s colleagues say she
knows her own mind and is a demand-
ing boss. “If you put something in front
of her, she’ll want to know where the
facts come from,” said one ally.
“You can’t bluff it with her.”
There has been grumbling that she
failed to consult widely before announc-
ing her Brexit gamble. Norman Lamb,
the veteran North Norfolk MP, said she
was “playing with fire” by in effect
ignoring the wishes of 52 per cent of vot-
ers. “There wasn’t proper consultation,”
said one party grandee.
Some have argued that the party’s
obsession with Brexit is crowding out its
message on other issues. But Ed Davey,
the party’s Treasury spokesperson, said:
“All the pushback on this policy is com-
ing from our opponents, which tells you
all you need to know.”
At the end of a week of late summer
sun on the south coast, Ms Swinson cap-
tured the upbeat mood before her
speech with a stage-managed stroll on
the beach with her expanded parlia-
mentary team.
The recent addition of Mr Umunna,
and Sam Gyimah from the Tories has
given the party a more diverse face —
Lib Dem MPs are awkwardly white and
male. Sarah Wollaston, the Tory defec-
tor, and Luciana Berger, the former
Labour MP, will also feature strongly in
the party’s election campaign.
However, Ms Swinson will be the prin-
cipal focus. Phillip Lee, the former Con-
servative MP who joined the Lib Dems
this month, said: “Compared to a
complete clown [Boris Johnson] and
Corbyn, the public are looking at this
leader and thinking: ‘You know what?
Absolutely’.”Party conference.Leader’s speech
Lib Dems’ youthful outsider
takes swipe at ‘tired old’ rivals
The no-nonsense
chair of Santander
UK since 2015,
Baroness Vadera
has had a long
career in the
private sector as
well as government roles, including as
business minister in Gordon Brown’s
government. She helped lead the City’s
response to Brexit. She will need to show
she has a suitable range of expertise, not
least on setting interest rates.Shriti Vadera, 57
Positioned himself
well for the BoE
governorship by
becoming head of
the Financial
Conduct Authority
in 2016 and also
holds several senior roles at the bank. But
his time at the FCA has coincided with
scandals, most recently the freezing of
investors’ money in the flagship fund of
Neil Woodford, former star stock picker.
Mr Bailey would need to show he has a
strong grasp of monetary policy.Andrew Bailey, 60
Dame Minouche,
director of the
London School of
Economics, was
BoE deputy
governor for
banking and
markets between 2014 and 2017. As a
former senior civil servant and IMF
deputy managing director, she is known
for being a good manager. But she would
need to show she can span the diverse
range of the work at the central bank and
communicate its decisions effectively.Minouche Shafik, 57
If the governorship
was mainly about
monetary policy,
Mr Broadbent
would probably be
favourite. He runs
macroeconomic
policy at the BoE, having started his
career at the Treasury then forging an
international reputation at Goldman
Sachs. He must show he can lead the BoE
without making communication errors: he
apologised last year after describing the
UK economy as ‘menopausal’.Ben Broadbent, 54
Sir Jon is serving
his second term at
the BoE as deputy
governor for
financial stability.
He sits on the
bank’s main policy
committees, giving him experience in all
aspects of its work. His challenge as a
candidate for governor will be in
demonstrating his capability to lead the
central bank, and there could be
questions about whether, at 66, he would
serve a full eight-year term.Jon Cunliffe, 66
Swinson ralliesactivists in
battle against Brexit and
sets sights on Downing Street
Jo Swinson told the conference that
people ‘deserve a better choice’‘All the pushback on this
policy is coming from our
opponents, which tells youall you need to know’
LU CY WA R W I C K- C H I N GBorrowers are paying interest rates on
their credit card balances at a higher
level than at any time in the past 13
years as regulatory rules to clamp
downonspirallingdebtstakeeffect.The average annual percentage rate
(APR) available for those making credit
card purchases reached 24.7 per cent in
September — the highest figure since
financial website Moneyfacts.co.uk
started recording its data in 2006. This
time last year the average APR was 23.
per cent.
Lenders have been pulling their best
low interest rate deals over the past year
following new rules brought in by the
Financial Conduct Authority.
Rachel Springall, a finance expert at
Moneyfacts, said: “Consumers who turn
to credit cards for their everyday pur-
chases will find that the cost to borrow is
starting to rise, as the most lucrative low
rate cards have worsened. In fact, over
the past quarter, we said goodbye to the
lowest-rate purchase credit card on the
market and have seen rates increase on
these lucrative offers.”
Tesco Bankrecently pulled its 5.9 per
cent Clubcard credit card, which was
the lowest-rate card on the market.
Bank of Scotland,HalifaxandLloyds
Banking Groupincreased the purchase
rate on their credit cards from 6.4 per
cent to 9.9 per cent.
Ms Springall pointed out that con-
sumers might be making more effort to
move their debt to interest-free alterna-
tives or clear their balances altogether.
According to recent findings from UK
Finance, the industry body, there has
been a decline in the proportion of
credit card balances that bear interest,
falling from 54.6 per cent to 53.4 per
compared with a year ago.
The annual growth rate of outstand-
ing balances has also fallen to 3.6 per
cent, down from its peak of 8.3 per cent
at the start of 2018.Borrowing costs
Credit card
interest rates
at highest
The contenders since 2006
Mark Carney,
incumbent
Bank of
England
governorSEPTEMBER 18 2019 Section:World Time: 17/9/2019 - 19:41 User: ian.holdsworth Page Name: UKNEWS2, Part,Page,Edition: LON, 5 , 1