Russell Lynch: Baroness Shriti Vadera, the smart bet for Bank of England?
Curiouser and curiouser. First, the name of Baroness Shriti Vadera crops up among the gossips at the Treasury’s annual summer drinks party as a serious contender for the job of Bank of England Governor.
Then “Shriti the Shriek” emerges herself in a rare interview, talking about diversity and producing the politician’s classic non-denial denial when asked about the looming vacancy in Threadneedle Street. It’s almost enough to make you suspect there’s a campaign under way.
The bookie’s favourite for the job remains the Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive Andrew Bailey. But Vadera’s apparent traction in Treasury circles only goes to underline the old adage that favourites don’t always win. Paul Tucker was heir apparent when Mark Carney got the job five years ago but soon vanished into academia after missing out to the Canadian.
Vadera — who earned her shouty nickname among civil servants when serving as a minister under Gordon Brown — is the first woman chairman of a UK bank and can call on an impressive City career as well as her political experience. Despite her previous affiliation, that private sector nous might appeal to a Conservative adminstration againt the merits of an (albeit vastly experienced) rival candidate with three decades at the Bank.
Don’t underestimate the diversity factor either. As an Asian woman she is the perfect riposte to recent complaints from Treasury Select Committee chairman Nicky Morgan over the Bank’s lack of women at senior levels. And — let’s be frank — whatever the merits of Jonathan Haskel as the latest member of the monetary policy committee, the Treasury blundered (from a PR perspective, at least), by picking the only man on a shortlist of women for the job. Only this morning, the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane is in the Financial Times writing about diversity and calling for a “radical” redesign of recruitment processes. The issue is very live.
The life peer might not be the easiest person to work for, if former Chancellor Alistair Darling’s memoirs are any guide. “She appears to believe that unless there is blood on the carpet, preferably that of her own colleagues, then she has not done her job,” he recalled.
That alone might be enough to have the staff in the Governor’s parlours quaking.
But she’s certainly qualified, despite her demurring that “I would like the best person for the job and I can think of many better people than me”.
When Carney was playing footsie with the Treasury during the summer of 2012, he was much stronger in his disavowal of interest (answering “both” to the question “is that a ‘no’ or a ‘never’?”), so I don’t see anything in Vadera’s comments that rule her out of the running.
And as for the Bank itself, it could be a major coup. On one betting website, she’s as long as 8/1 for the job: those odds might be around for much longer.
