Minouche Shafik. Nigel Stead
The UK Government has announced that LSE Director, Minouche Shafik, will be made a Life Peer in the House of Lords.
Minouche has been nominated to sit in the Lords as a Crossbench Peer – without party political affiliation – giving her the ability to directly and independently scrutinise and vote on legislation, and interrogate government policy.
An economist by training, Minouche has had a successful and varied career across public policy and academia. Her previous roles include Vice President of the World Bank – the youngest in the history of the organisation, Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development and Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
Prior to joining LSE as Director in 2017, Minouche served as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, where she led the Fair and Effective Markets Review, putting in place reforms to tackle misconduct in financial markets. In this role she was also responsible for a balance sheet of about £475 billion.
She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year's Honours list in 2015.
Commenting on the appointment, LSE Chair of Council Dr Susan Liautaud said: “My sincerest congratulations to Minouche. This appointment is well-deserved after many years of public service and exceptional leadership. I have no doubt Parliamentary debates and law-making will benefit greatly from her expertise and insight.”
Minouche Shafik added: “It is a huge honour and I hope to use this opportunity to serve to the best of my ability. I especially look forward to highlighting how the social sciences and humanities have a vital role in tackling the enormous challenges facing the UK and wider world - from managing the impact of pandemics and combatting climate change, to supporting economic recovery and wellbeing.”