Hawkish deputy governor quits
Bank of England deputy governor Sir Andrew Large has resigned. He will be replaced by career civil servant Sir John Gieve.
Large, who is leaving for the private sector, is commonly regarded as one of the more hawkish members of the all important Monetary Policy Committee.
He voted against August’s 25 basis points rate cut and was in favour of raising rates earlier in the year.
Like Mervyn King, the Bank’s governor, the man who is replacing Large is an Arsenal fan, but little is known about his stance on interest rates. Gieve has been working at the Home Office since 2001. Before that he was at the Treasury.
His appointment has gone much more smoothly than that of Large’s, observers noted. Then the outgoing deputy was not named until after his predecessor had quit in 2002.
The process was criticised by the Treasury select committee who said that the Chancellor Gordon Brown seemed to have overlooked the need to find a replacement until the last minute.
Large has not yet revealed which job he is taking on next.