By: Christian May

Editor-in-Chief Christian May is the Editor-in-Chief of City AM. He served in the role from 2015 to 2020 and returned in 2024. He writes the daily Editor's Letter for print and online and releases The Week in Business roundup video each Thursday. He is particularly interested in the health of London's capital markets, economic policy, politics, regulation and business activity in the City of London. He regularly appears in the broadcast media and presents a daily Business News slot on LBC at 0730, Monday to Friday. Find Christian on X and LinkedIn.

Connect on socials

All 426 Articles

Lagarde’s ECB job is a victory for Macron and a chance for Osborne

July 5, 2019

The chatter in Paris is that Emmanuel Macron has played a blinder. On Monday night he was raging to the media about the shoddy state of EU decision making, but by Wednesday evening he was patting himself on the back. Macron pushed Ursula von der Leyen as a compromise candidate for Commission president, simultaneously helping [...]
Should 160,000 Tories choose our next Prime Minister? Yes, actually

June 28, 2019

Discussing the Tory leadership election on Sky News earlier this week, host Adam Boulton asked me why the party members seemed so relaxed about Boris Johnson’s controversial private life. “Isn’t this the party of family values?” Boulton asked. It’s a fair point. Three quarters of the party’s 160,000 members believe that “young people today don’t [...]
Attracting talent from India is crucial for UK success

June 24, 2019

Three years ago today, as the country absorbed the result of the EU referendum, few people were talking about the intricacies of trade policy, the complexity of bilateral negotiations or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Three years on, and while the country appears no closer to a negotiated exit than it was 1,000 [...]
There’s a first time for everything… including marrying your friends

June 21, 2019

Over the years I’ve ticked off most of the public speaking formats. I’ve enjoyed after dinner speeches, panel discussions, debates and events of all sizes. Last week, I ticked off another category of performance by conducting my friends’ wedding. The only other time I’d been as surprised at a suggestion was when the proprietors of [...]
The leadership race has reignited the party’s capitalist spirit

June 17, 2019

The man most likely to be the next Prime Minister will this morning sit down with 25 leading City figures in a bid to mend relations with the business community. Boris Johnson reportedly said “f**k business” when confronted with industry groups’ concerns over Brexit last year. The remarks have hung around his neck ever since [...]
Bank of England governor Mark Carney tries, and fails, to prevent Brexit analysis frenzy

November 28, 2018

House prices plummeting 31 per cent. Unemployment shooting up to 9.5 per cent. GDP collapsing by 4.3 per cent amid a sharp recession. These were the scenarios the Bank of England used to conduct its mandated “stress test” for some of the UK’s biggest financial companies back in 2016. Last year, the wonks at Threadneedle Street [...]
Hammond shows how to ease austerity the Conservative way

October 30, 2018

The Philip Hammond of a few years ago would have seen a few billion pounds courtesy of an unexpected windfall and promptly locked it away, like the chairman of the bank in Mary Poppins. But something has changed. Yesterday, Hammond was more Tigger than Eeyore. He announced a whopping £30bn of extra public spending by [...]
The City helps fuel economic growth right across the country, so be wary of those who want to clip its wings

October 28, 2018

One of the most pernicious elements of Labour's current economic platform is the idea that the City is entirely distinct from (and damaging to) the so-called real economy. Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell's stump speeches routinely contain attacks on predatory bankers, fat-cats and financial speculators. The labour leader also seems to have a personal vendetta against [...]
Editor’s Notes: Brexit can’t mean an end to good governance, respite for Grenfell survivors, and from pulling pints to pitching policy

October 26, 2018

There are complaints that Brexit is taking up so much time in Westminster that parliament doesn’t have the energy or the space to focus on anything else. In reality, legislators are as busy as ever but they may well be too distracted to offer effective legislative scrutiny. Last night, no fewer than nine human rights [...]
Jes Staley seeks to brush off Bramson challenge but Barclays still faces the headwinds

October 24, 2018

Barclays CEO Jes Staley struck a bullish tone yesterday, insisting his investment banking division was on the up. Third quarter profits jumped to £1.5bn, up from £1.1bn a year ago. If this puts a spring in Staley's step, there are plenty of items in his in-tray to pull him back down to earth – not [...]

‘Serious incident’ as plane crashes at London Southend Airport

Olivia Smith: First £1m transfer shows good and bad of women’s football

Experience the Roman Empire in Bulgaria for history to rival Italy – just without the crowds

By: Christian May

All 426 Articles

Subscribe