Andrew Bailey has got a PR problem. And it could cost him the job he is widely assumed to want — next Governor of the Bank of England.
Today the Financial Conduct Authority he runs finally got around to banning former Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers from the City.
You can read the tawdry sex and drugs details here if you must. That ban comes five years after the lender almost collapsed.
And a year after the church defrocked the man we know as the Crystal Methodist.
Nicky Morgan of the Treasury Select Committee is among those who wants to know what took the FCA so long.
There might be good reasons, connected to ongoing criminal investigations. But they need spelling out.
In the meantime, there’s another inquiry into the matter, launched today by the Treasury.
If Mr Bailey is serious about that Bank job, he needs someone to spin quietly and effectively on his behalf.
He’s getting some rough press and I suspect it’s not going to get any better on its own.
