Shadow North East MPC Meeting June 2025 - Decision - Stick

By Donna James, Research Director at Populus Select

At a time when the global political and economic environment is volatile, the North East Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, comprising business leaders in the NE, met a week before the Bank of England’s MPC to discuss their take on the current economic situation and to vote on what decision they think the BoE should take regarding the interest rate.

Populus Select’s Research Director, a member of the shadow MPC, voted to stick. This was the majority view of the committee.

Donna’s vote was based on concerns about inflationary pressures, both domestic and international.

With continued wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, many in the committee were worried about oil prices. The USA’s imposition of tariffs and the rise in domestic inflation were also of concern to committee members alongside the impact of the recent employer NIC rise.

With inflation higher than the BoE’s target of 2%, a ‘stick’ vote was unsurprising.

You can view the meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYRFiTXyqGs