Governor of the Bank of England

The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Bank of England is also chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, with a major role in guiding national economic and monetary policy, and is therefore one of the most important public officials in the United Kingdom.

Governor of the Bank of England
Incumbent Andrew Bailey since 16 March 2020
Residence	London, United Kingdom
Appointer	Chancellor of the Exchequer^[1]^[2] with the approval of the Prime Minister^[3] and the Monarch^[4]
Term length	8 years Renewable once
Inaugural holder	Sir John Houblon
Formation	1694
Salary	£495 000 ^[5]
Website	Governor of the Bank of England

According to the original charter of 27 July 1694 the bank's affairs would be supervised by a governor, a deputy governor, and 24 directors.^[6] In its current incarnation, the bank's Court of Directors has 12 (or up to 14) members, of whom five are various designated executives of the bank.^[7]

The 121st and current governor is Andrew Bailey, who began his term in March 2020.^[8]

Governors of the Bank of England (1694–present)

No.	Name	In office
1	Sir John Houblon	1694–1697
2	Sir William Scawen	1697–1699
3	Nathaniel Tench	1699–1701
4	John Ward	1701–1703
5	Abraham Houblon	1703–1705
6	Sir James Bateman	1705–1707
7	Francis Eyles	1707–1709
8	Sir Gilbert Heathcote	1709–1711
9	Nathaniel Gould	1711–1713
10	John Rudge	1713–1715
11	Sir Peter Delmé	1715–1717
12	Sir Gerard Conyers	1717–1719
13	John Hanger	1719–1721
14	Sir Thomas Scawen	1721–1723
15	Sir Gilbert Heathcote	1723–1725
16	William Thompson	1725–1727
17	Humphry Morice	1727–1729
18	Samuel Holden	1729–1731
19	Sir Edward Bellamy	1731–1733
20	Horatio Townshend	1733–1735
21	Bryan Benson	1735–1737
22	Thomas Cooke	1737–1740
23	Delillers Carbonnel	1740–1741
24	Stamp Brooksbank	1741–1743
25	William Fawkener	1743–1745
26	Charles Savage	1745–1747
27	Benjamin Longuet	1747–1749
28	William Hunt	1749–1752
29	Alexander Sheafe	1752–1754
30	Charles Palmer	1754–1756
31	Matthews Beachcroft	1756–1758
32	Merrick Burrell	1758–1760
33	Bartholomew Burton	1760–1762
34	Robert Marsh	1762–1764
35	John Weyland	1764–1766
36	Matthew Clarmont	1766–1769
37	William Cooper	1769–1771
38	Edward Payne	1771–1773
39	James Sperling	1773–1775
40	Samuel Beachcroft	1775–1777
41	Peter Gaussen	1777–1779
42	Daniel Booth	1779–1781
43	William Ewer	1781–1783
44	Richard Neave	1783–1785
45	George Peters	1785–1787
46	Edward Darell	1787–1789
47	Mark Weyland	1789–1791
48	Samuel Bosanquet	1791–1793
49	Godfrey Thornton	1793–1795
50	Daniel Giles	1795–1797
51	Thomas Raikes	1797–1799
52	Samuel Thornton	1799–1801
53	Job Mathew Raikes	1801–1802
54	Joseph Nutt	1802–1804
55	Benjamin Winthrop	1804–1806
56	Beeston Long	1806–1808
57	John Whitmore	1808–1810
58	John Pearse	1810–1812
59	William Manning	1812–1814
60	William Mellish	1814–1816
61	Jeremiah Harman	1816–1818
62	George Dorrien	1818–1820
63	Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Pole	1820–1822
64	John Bowden	1822–1824
65	Cornelius Buller	1824–1826
66	John Baker Richards	1826–1828
67	Samuel Drewe	1828–1830
68	John Horsley Palmer	1830–1833
69	Richard Mee Raikes	1833–1834
70	James Pattison	1834–1837
71	Timothy Abraham Curtis	1837–1839
72	Sir John Reid	1839–1841
73	Sir John Pelly	1841–1842
74	William Cotton	1842–1845
75	John Benjamin Heath	1845–1847
76	William Robinson	April–August 1847
77	James Morris	1847–1849
78	Henry James Prescot	1849–1851
79	Thomson Hankey	1851–1853
80	John Hubbard	1853–1855
81	Thomas Matthias Weguelin	1855–1857
82	Sheffield Neave	1857–1859
83	Bonamy Dobrée	1859–1861
84	Alfred Latham	1861–1863
85	Kirkman Hodgson	1863–1865
86	Henry Lancelot Holland	1865–1867
87	Thomas Newman Hunt	1867–1869
88	Robert Wigram Crawford	1869–1871
89	George Lyall	1871–1873
90	Benjamin Buck Greene	1873–1875
91	Hucks Gibbs	1875–1877
92	Edward Howley Palmer	1877–1879
93	John William Birch	1879–1881
94	Henry Grenfell	1881–1883
95	John Saunders Gilliat	1883–1885
96	James Pattison Currie	1885–1887
97	Mark Collet	1887–1889
98	William Lidderdale	1889–1892
99	David Powell	1892–1895
100	Albert George Sandeman	1895–1897
101	Hugh Colin Smith	1897–1899
102	Samuel Steuart Gladstone	1899–1901
103	Sir Augustus Prevost	1901–1903
104	Samuel Morley	1903–1905
105	Alexander Falconer Wallace	1905–1907
106	William Middleton Campbell	1907–1909
107	Reginald Eden Johnston	1909–1911
108	Alfred Clayton Cole	1911–1913
109	Walter Cunliffe	1913–1918
110	Brien Cokayne	1918–1920
111	Montagu Norman	1920–1944
112	Lord Catto	1944–1949
113	Lord Cobbold	1949–1961
114	Lord Cromer	1961–1966
115	Sir Leslie O'Brien	1966–1973
116	Gordon Richardson	1973–1983
117	Robin Leigh-Pemberton	1983–1993
118	Sir Edward George	1993–2003
119	Sir Mervyn King	2003–2013
120	Mark Carney	2013–2020
121	Andrew Bailey	2020–present

See also

•  Banks portal

• Chief Cashier of the Bank of England
• Deputy Governor of the Bank of England

References

1. Chu, Ben (27 November 2012). "George Osborne gets his man: Mark Carney named as new Bank of England Governor". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2020. The panel put forward Mr Carney's name to the Chancellor, who then consulted the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister before announcing his decision.
2. Partington, Richard (20 December 2019). "Andrew Bailey appointed head of Bank of England". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2020. Javid is understood to have decided on Bailey.
3. Mackenzie, Nell (24 December 2019). "Why didn't the Bank of England appoint a woman?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 April 2020. Andrew Bailey was appointed by the government, not the Bank: chosen by Chancellor Sajid Javid and approved by the prime minister.
4. "Andrew Bailey announced as new Governor of the Bank of England". Bank of England. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020. The Chancellor has announced that Andrew Bailey will become the new Governor of the Bank of England from 16 March 2020. Her Majesty the Queen has approved the appointment.
5. "Bank of England: What does the governor do?". BBC.com. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
6. Richards, Richard. The Early History of Banking in England (Rle Banking and Finance). p. 152.
7. "Court of Directors". Retrieved 2018-07-24.
8. "Andrew Bailey". www.bankofengland.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-16.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of the Bank of England.

• List of Governors of the Bank of England 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine