Baroness Shriti Vadera first appeared as a serious contender as a replacement for Mark Carney as Governor of the Bank of England at the Treasury’s annual summer drinks party. In a rare interview she then appeared to confirm this by talking about diversity and produced the politician’s classic non-denial denial.
According to Russell Lynch, Deputy City Editor at the Evening Standard,the bookie’s favourite for the job remains the Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive Andrew Bailey.
Baroness Vadera — who served as a minister under Gordon Brown — is the first woman chairman of a UK bank and can call on an impressive City career as well as her political experience.
As one of the highest ranking Asian women in today’s politics the Baroness seems to be the perfect answer to recent complaints from Treasury Select Committee chairman Nicky Morgan over the Bank’s lack of women at senior levels.
Shriti Vadera has been shattering glass ceilings and defying stereotypes her entire life. She is the first – and so far the only – female chair of a British bank, after being appointed to lead the board of Santander UK in 2014, making her one of the most powerful women in the UK finance industry.
Baroness Vadera – though she rarely uses the title – cut a swathe through the ranks of grey men in Whitehall as an adviser to Gordon Brown during the financial crisis, when he was Prime Minister.
