Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s hopes of taking over as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) looked increasingly remote last night after business secretary Vince Cable suggested the top job should go to someone from within the Eurozone.
The Kirkcaldy MP’s chances of replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the top job appear to be diminishing after Mr Cable became the latest high-profile figure to distance Mr Brown from the role hinting the UK would be unlikely to back him as a candidate.
Speculation over the vacancy has been heightened after Mr Strauss-Kahn stepped down from his position as the world’s top banker amid sexual assault allegations in the US, with several frontrunners since emerging for the job.
Mr Brown himself has openly lobbied for the position and hopes his performance as chancellor and latterly his handling of the international banking crisis would make him a strong contender.
Despite that, though, the 60-year-old has yet to receive any endorsement from political leaders and that trend continued when Mr Cable, although refusing to comment directly on the issue, said he felt “promoting national champions, whoever they are, probably isn’t the best way of dealing with this.”
“The IMF is dealing with a major economic crisis in Europe,” Mr Cable said. “They need somebody very effective and respected, particularly somebody who understands the internal problems of the Eurozone.
“That is probably where the new head of the IMF will come from. If it doesn’t, someone from the eastern Asian countries who has had a very successful record in economic management.”
The top job has been held by a European since the IMF’s inception in 1945, and has been filled by a Frenchman four times.
The current Euro crisis has also prompted many, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, to say that the job should remain with Europe for the time being.
Although his popularity may have taken a hit in the UK, Mr Brown is well respected abroad for his handling of the 2008 economic crisis.
During his decade-long tenure as chancellor, the British economy was also seen to flourish, although critics point to the fact that lax financial regulation and excessive government borrowing at the time ultimately led to Britain’s record debt.
Mr Cable’s comments follow suggestions that Prime Minister David Cameron would not support Mr Brown’s candidacy, while Swedish finance minister Anders Borg has also publicly backed French finance minister Christine Lagarde for the job.
Mr Borg tore into the Kirkcaldy MP’s track record, saying, “It would be difficult to have someone so responsible for the fiscal crisis in the UK at the helm of the IMF.”
He said that “a country with a 10% deficit is a little bit problematic as a place to find a successor” to Mr Strauss-Kahn, adding that Mr Brown was “not that strong” a candidate to head the IMF.