BOE Governor Hopefuls Vie for Shortlist That Might Be Torn Up

(Bloomberg) -- Candidates interviewing to replace Bank of England Governor Mark Carney are competing to get on a shortlist that could then be easily ripped up.

The next finance minister, and the successor to Prime Minister Theresa May, won’t be bound to choose from the handful of names that the current Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and his officials will select for them as part of the current recruitment campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

It remains unknown who will lead the next government, though Boris Johnson appears to have the most support among his Conservative Party. He hasn’t publicly commented on who he might appoint to run the Treasury. The timetable for determining Carney’s succession will fall across two different administrations, albeit from the same party.

The new prime minister and chancellor will probably start their roles at the end of July -- in the middle of the selection process for the BOE. Carney is due to step down at the end of January.

Civil servants in the Treasury, supported by headhunters Sapphire Partners, are currently in charge of the search for a new governor, sifting through about 30 applications and then conducting initial interviews.

At least two of the candidates are women. All of the applications are genuine, the people said, unlike the last time the Treasury ran the process in 2012 when many of them weren’t serious.

After that, the new chancellor will interview a shortlist, with Hammond already having ruled himself out of that part of the process. They’ll then recommend their preferred candidate to the prime minister, who will seek the Queen’s approval. The opposition Labour Party won’t fight whoever the Conservatives choose to be BOE governor if they come to power in an early election, a person familiar with the matter said.

Carney has recently clashed with Johnson. He has repeatedly criticized a central pillar of Johnson’s Brexit strategy, and issued stark warnings about the economic impact of a no-deal departure.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, David Goodman

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