In 2013, Mervyn King revealed his plans for a “grey gap year” after leaving his role as Governor of the Bank of England. It seems, however, that his break is over. Little, Brown has bought his memoirs at the London Book Fair. But will King put his mouth where their money is?
King has got quite a tale to tell. He rose from humble beginnings as the son of a railway porter, studied at Cambridge and Harvard and went into academia before heading over to Threadneedle Street.
One hopes there will be passages on tennis — he is a director at the All England Lawn Tennis Association and was regularly seen there relaxing from the strains of the City — and his wife, Finnish interior designer Barbara Melander, who he married seven years ago.
But the really juicy stuff will come when he talks about the financial crisis of 2007/2008. Former Chancellor Alistair Darling’s memoirs Back From the Brink were not kind to King, noting a “poor relationship” with bank chief executives, and suggesting King was slow off the mark in his response to crisis.
King was, The Londoner hears, rather miffed at his portrayal and told those in his circle that he thought Darling had revealed far too much on sensitive matters.
Mervyn, now Lord King, has been off teaching in Harvard since handing over the reins to Mark Carney. That will have given him a few spare hours to think about how to plot his revenge on Darling.
