Who will be the next Bank of England governor?

The position of Bank of England governor — currently held by Mark Carney who is due to step down in January — stands out as one of the most powerful ones in central banking.

Mr Carney chairs the Monetary Policy Committee that sets interest rates, the Financial Policy Committee that controls the safety of the financial system, and the Prudential Regulation Committee that ensures the safety of individual banks.

He also leads the BoE’s management, represents the UK in G7 and IMF meetings, and is the main communicator of the central bank’s policies. In a deeply hierarchical organisation, Mr Carney ends up taking most of the crucial decisions.

The government fired the starting gun on the race to succeed Mr Carney in April when the Treasury placed an advertisement for the next governor, with an annual salary of £480,000.

The job specification said the successful candidate should “have led a large financial organisation”, “the ability to maintain global confidence in UK financial services”, and “significant understanding of the workings of government and regulators, gained through membership 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 Carney’s outspoken views about the potential economic damage resulting from Brexit that have made him deeply unpopular with Eurosceptic politicians.

The job ad was issued when Philip Hammond was chancellor, and he had hoped to find a world class international candidate to succeed Mr Carney, but two 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 the people below thought to be on a government shortlist to be the next BoE governor have many of the skills that ministers are seeking, but none have them all.

Andrew Bailey

Mr Bailey has positioned himself well for the BoE governorship, partly by becoming the head of the Financial Conduct Authority in 2016, but also by previously holding several senior roles at the central bank. However, his time at the FCA has coincided with several scandals, most recently the freezing of investors’ money in the flagship fund of Neil Woodford, the one time star stock picker. Mr Bailey, 60, would need to convince the government that he has a strong grasp of monetary policy.

Ben Broadbent

If the BoE governorship was mainly about monetary policy, Mr Broadbent, 54, would probably be favourite. He currently runs macroeconomic policy at the BoE, having started his career at the Treasury and then forged an international reputation as European economist at Goldman Sachs. If he wants to be BoE governor, he must show he has the capacity to lead the central bank without making communication errors: he had to apologise last year after describing the UK economy as “menopausal”.

Jon Cunliffe

Sir Jon is serving his second term at the BoE as deputy governor for financial stability. With long experience as a government official, Sir Jon sits on the BoE’s main policy committees, giving him experience of all aspects of the central bank’s work. His challenge as a candidate for the BoE governorship will be demonstrating his capability to lead the central bank, and there could be questions about whether the 66-year-old would serve a full eight-year term.

Minouche Shafik

Ms Shafik, currently head of the London School of Economics, was the BoE deputy governor for banking and markets between 2014 and 2017. As a former senior civil servant and a deputy managing director at the IMF, she is known for being a good manager. But as a candidate for the BoE governorship, the 57-year-old would need to show she has the ability to span the diverse range of work at the central bank and that she can communicate its decisions effectively to the public.

Shriti Vadera

The no-nonsense chair of Santander UK since 2015, Baroness Vadera has had a long career in the private sector, as well as a number of government roles, including as business minister in Gordon Brown’s administration. She recently helped lead the City of London’s response to Brexit. In seeking to become BoE governor, the 57-year-old will need to demonstrate that she could set interest rates despite a lack of relevant experience.

Gerard Lyons

Mr Lyons did not make it on to the shortlist of candidates to be the next BoE governor because of his lack of experience in leading a major financial institution, which was a requirement in the government’s job specification. Mr Lyons, 58, has nevertheless had a successful career as a City economist and could still be appointed if the chancellor and prime minister decided to overrule the advice of the panel that drew up the shortlist.