Election rules hit Bank's recruitment as monetary policy committee shrinks

Deferred appointments could see MPC voting on interest rates with seven instead of nine members for the first time since 2006

The Bank of England's rate-setting team could be reduced to seven members for the first time in nearly 11 years as election "purdah" rules will delay appointments until at least next month.

The Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) has eight members from the usual nine after deputy governor Charlotte Hogg was forced to resign in March for failing to declare her brother works for Barclays.