Nigel Farage has suggested he would replace the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, if he were to become prime minister.
“He’s had a good run, we might find someone new,” Farage said in an interview with Bloomberg’s The Mishal Husain show.
“He’s a nice enough bloke,” the Reform leader added.
However, Farage is unlikely to have a say in Bailey’s leadership, given the governor’s single eight-year term is due to end in March 2028 and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, is only required to hold a general election sometime before 15 August 2029.
Farage has been calling for politicians to have greater influence on the central bank, which was made independent in 1997 by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown.
His comments on Bailey’s position are the latest sign that Farage could seek to follow in the footsteps of his friend Donald Trump’s relationship with the US Federal Reserve.
Trump has sought to increase his administration’s influence over the US central bank, which like the Bank of England makes its interest rate decisions independently. The US president has demanded interest rate cuts and launched stinging attacks on the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell – calling him a “moron” on social media – and threatening to remove him.
Farage’s latest comments come just weeks after he and Reform UK MP Richard Tice held a meeting with Bailey at the Bank’s Threadneedle Street headquarters.
Farage had been calling for the central bank to halt bond sales and cut the interest rate it pays to UK banks, after an exchange of letters, in which the governor agreed to a meeting.
Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, has previously said the Treasury should be allowed to appoint “one or two” government representatives to sit on the Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC).
The Reform UK leader, who previously worked as a commodities trader, has worked more recently as a brand ambassador for a gold company, and has discussed his goal of making London a global “powerhouse” for cryptocurrencies.
Farage, who has previously called Bailey a “dinosaur” for his views on digital currencies, said he was encouraged by the governor’s change of heart about stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that is supposed to have a stable value, such as US$1 (£0.75) per token.
“The Bank of England, the British government, the regulator – whatever shape that takes – they’ve all got to understand the world is changing, has changed, very, very rapidly,” Farage said.
After Bailey’s meeting with Farage and Tice, a Bank of England spokesperson said the governor had “a productive meeting” with them.
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