Rising interest rates will split the Conservatives’ electoral coalition

Bashing the Bank of England is in vogue in Conservative circles. Even during good times, it personifies things the Conservative Party does not like: it is technocratic (boo!), unelected (shame!) and based in London (hiss!). Now that it has presided over a surge in inflation, expected to peak at 13% later this year, Conservative mps are queuing up to kick it. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary and odds-on favourite to become the next prime minister, has suggested tightening its mandate. Kwasi Kwarteng, potentially the next chancellor, said: “Clearly something’s gone wrong.” Suella Braverman, the attorney-general, happily trampled on the bank’s independence and said it should have raised interest rates a “long time ago”. Rather than burying the bank, they should be praising it. Without it the Conservatives would not be in power.