A leaked shortlist for the next Governor of the Bank of England made its way from the highest levels of the Treasury to the pages of The Times last Saturday, and has now been followed up by an orchestrated letter signed by Remain supporting MPs. The letter is a not-so-subtle attempt to confirm the leak by making the Civil Service’s recommendation list public and therefore making it politically harder for the Chancellor to appoint a Brexiteer to the role.

Guido understands that up to ten people were interviewed for the role of Governor by the Treasury run Selection Panel and four names are in the process of being put forward to the Chancellor. According to the Times‘ leak, Brexit backer and former Boris advisor Gerard Lyons has been kept off the list, with the Treasury instead keen to install John Kingman – an ardent pro Remain supporter. This appears to be his compensation for having lost out to Tom Scholar for the lead mandarin role at the Treasury…

The Treasury look like they are keen to put him up against The Financial Conduct Authority’s Andrew Bailey who has been widely discredited in the City following a series of blunders.

Meanwhile the Chair of the Court at the Bank of England, Bradley Fried, has been involved in the selection process and testified early this summer to the Treasury Select Committee that appointing a female or ethnic minority Bank of England governor would be “an inspirational moment” for the nation. Two of the other names mentioned in the Times were former Gordon Brown advisor and Labour Peer Baroness Shriti Vadera and ardently anti-Brexit director of the LSE Dame Minouche Shafik.

Ultimately the decision is up to Sajid. Brexiteers will be hoping he doesn’t just bend to the will of the Civil Service…