By Andy Silvester
In the Square Mile and Westminster alike, the secret to good leadership is two-fold: say hello to everybody, and don’t sweat the small stuff. The vast majority of CEOs in the City know that the best way to run a large business is to set a clear strategy and focus on a small, but important, number of key objectives. Tick those off, don’t get distracted, and (unless the strategy is off) you’ll not go far wrong.
Yesterday’s indication by the Prime Minister in waiting Liz Truss that she would leave Bank of England independence well alone is therefore extremely welcome. Britain has enough problems currently, many of which are already within the gift of Westminster’s power brokers to solve. Adding distractions and unnecessary battles – as any move to change the Bank’s mandate would have been – is a sure way to become waylaid.
Should Truss be able to stay on course, she would be an improvement on her predecessor. Boris Johnson has many talents but focus and determination in delivery do not necessarily seem to be among them. His government too often resembled a bike moving too slowly to deal with the bumps in the political road. Truss must avoid the temptation to do too much. Take the much-hinted at look at City regulators – is this really the moment to review the operations of a system that is only a decade or so old? Or would working within the existing architecture to get 80 per cent of what you might want be a better approach than ripping the whole thing up and starting again – and going through the inevitable teething problems that come with?
Truss needs to run a two-pronged government. The first focus will be riding out this miserable winter. But the second focus – no less important – will be making decisions that benefit Britain in the medium and long-term, and give us reason for optimism that growth will return. Culture wars and unnecessary political firestorms won’t help Britain on the road to recovery.
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