Mervyn Allister King, Baron King of Lothbury, KG, GBE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_King,_Baron_King_of_Lothbury

Mervyn Allister King, Baron King of Lothbury, KG, GBE, DL, FBA (born 30 March 1948) is a former Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of its Monetary Policy Committee from 2003 to 2013. He had been Deputy Governor from 1998 to 2003, Chief Economist and Executive Director from 1991, and a non-executive director of the Bank from 1990 to 1991.

King is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Fellow of King's and St John's Colleges, Cambridge, and holds Honorary Degrees from Cambridge, Birmingham, City of London, Edinburgh, London Guildhall (now London Metropolitan University), London School of Economics, Wolverhampton, Worcester and Helsinki Universities. He is a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, sits on the Advisory Council of the London Symphony Orchestra, is a President of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, Honorary President of Ekenäs Cricket Club in Finland, and a Trustee of the National Gallery.

King left his office as the Governor of the Bank of England on 30 June 2013, and was replaced by Mark Carney. He was appointed a life peer by Queen Elizabeth II for 'contributions to public service'. King entered the House of Lords on 22 July 2013 as a crossbencher, taking the title Baron King of Lothbury.

Early life and pre-Bank career

Mervyn King is a son of Eric King, a railway porter who retrained as a geography teacher after the war, and Kathleen (née Passingham). He was born in Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire, and studied at Warstones Junior School Wolverhampton and then on to Wolverhampton Grammar School, King's College, Cambridge (gaining a first-class degree in Economics in 1969; MA), St John's College, Cambridge, and Harvard (as a Kennedy Scholar). Whilst at Cambridge, King was Treasurer of the Cambridge University Liberal Club in 1968.

After graduation he worked as a researcher on the Cambridge Growth Project with future Nobel Laureate Richard Stone and Terry Barker at the University of Cambridge. He then taught at the University of Birmingham and was a Visiting Professor at Harvard and MIT where he shared an office with then Assistant Professor Ben Bernanke. From October 1984 he was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics where he founded the Financial Markets Group. In 1981, he was one of the 364 economists who signed a letter to The Times condemning Geoffrey Howe's 1981 Budget.

Bank of England

King joined the Bank in March 1991 as chief economist and executive director, after being a non-executive director from 1990 to 1991. He was appointed Deputy Governor in 1997, taking up his post on 1 June 1998. In the same year, King became a member of the Group of Thirty. An ex-officio member of the bank's interest-rate setting Monetary Policy Committee since its inception in 1997, King took part in its monthly meetings. He succeeded Sir Edward George as Governor on 1 July 2003, and was also the first incumbent Governor of the Bank of England to be received in audience with Queen Elizabeth II.

Life peerage

On 19 July 2013 King was appointed a life peer by Queen Elizabeth II for 'contributions to public service'. King entered the House of Lords on 22 July 2013 as a crossbencher, taking the title Baron King of Lothbury, of Lothbury in the City of London.

Personal life

King's wife, Barbara Melander, is a Finnish interior designer and comes from the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. They married in a private ceremony in a church in Helsinki in 2007.

King is a fan of Aston Villa F.C.. He once arranged a game between Bank of England employees and ex-Villa players. He served on Villa's Board of Directors from February until April 2016, and then he, along with fellow Board member former Football Association chairman David Bernstein, resigned in protest against owner Randy Lerner's stewardship of the club.

King briefly found himself commentating on an Ashes Test Match for BBC Radio's "Five Live" in 2005, while being interviewed by Simon Mayo. He is the President of the cricket foundation Chance to Shine programme, which fosters competitive cricket in state schools. He is a member of the AELTC and MCC. In 2015, he became President of Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Cambridge University honoured him as an Honorary Doctor of Laws (Hon LLD) in 2006. King is also a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

In 2015, King was listed as the 11th most influential person in the Financial Centres International top 500.

King was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours, and his banner is to be displayed with those of other GBEs in St Paul's Cathedral. He was appointed to the Order of the Garter on 23 April 2014.