Could the world’s premier centre for cross-border finance find itself under new political management?
Simon Evans investigates When the UK’s notionally left-wing Labour party took power in 1997, Gordon Brown, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, did what the Square Mile had long sought. He took the politics out of monetary policy and gave the Bank of England independence to set interest rates. The City was pleasantly surprised: it could work with Gordon. But today, the love affair with Labour is a distant memory. Meanwhile, the opposition Conservatives look a bit more credible. The fresh-faced pairing of David Cameron, the leader, and George Osborne, shadow Chancellor, has given the Tories a real chance of getting back into power. In the opinion of Howard Flight, the former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury (and formerly half of the semi-eponymous fund management firm, Guinness Flight), the Tory party had “for a long time failed to nurture its natural City supporters”. That is changing. The Conservative City Circle was created two years ago to tap into latent Tory support. There a
