Starmer delighted to appoint ex-Columbia University president as economics advisor

Keir Starmer is delighted to have appointed the ex-president of Columbia University as his new chief economic advisor because of her world-class experience, Downing Street has said, adding she had made clear she abhorred the antisemitism that flared on campus during her time in the States.

Former Bank of England deputy governor Baroness Minouche Shafik has been named chief economic advisor to support him on economic affairs, as his government attempts to go further and faster in driving economic growth and raising living standards.

Shafik, who is British-American, became the first female president of Columbia  University when she was appointed in 2023, but her tenure was overshadowed by pro-Palestine activism in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks.

This role coincided with clashes on campus and rising incidents of antisemitism against Jewish students.

In July Columbia, one of the top educational institutions in the United States, agreed to pay $221m to settle claims by US President Donald Trump’s administration that it failed to police antisemitism on campus.

Shafik, who previously served as president of the London School of Economics,  repeatedly denounced antisemitism while in the role, and announced the formation of a university task force on antisemitism.

During a US Congress hearing in the months prior to her resignation from Columbia  last August Shafik was accused by Republican committee chairman Virginia Foxx of allowing the New York-based university to become “a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred”.

But she also faced the wrath of pro-Palestine activists and some staff and students at Columbia for calling in the police to dismantle the occupation of university facilities.

Resigning after just over a year as president of the university, Shafik acknowledged her time in charge had been riven by “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”.

A Downing Street spokesperson said on Monday that Shafik had been appointed because of her 30 years of experience in public service, both as an economist, and in academia.

“What’s very clear is her exceptional economic experience – the PM is delighted to have someone like her on his team,” Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said.

Asked about the sizable payment made by the university in relation to antisemitism claims, the No.10 spokesperson added:”I point you to her letter to the university, at the time she made it clear there was no place for antisemitism anywhere.”

Having served as deputy governor of the Bank of England,  she joins No 10’s top team at a critical moment for the government as it battles to grow the economy.

Shafik was made a life peer in the House of Lords in 2020.

She is recognised as a world leading economist, who has served as the Permanent Secretary of the UK’s Department for International Development and as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

In further appointments, the PM promoted Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson, who has been made Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, a junior ministerial position.