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 577 Articles

Chancellor Philip Hammond’s tax hikes in yesterday’s Spring Budget spell political trouble

March 9, 2017

Philip Hammond was beaten up pretty badly at last night’s meeting of Tory MPs. Colleagues rounded on him for hiking a tax on the self-employed (for which one can read, entrepreneurs) and for another raid on dividend payment tax relief. How exactly are Tory MPs meant to sell this to their voters? And how does [...]
Ever the pragmatist, chancellor Philip Hammond is right to be bullish on Brexit

March 6, 2017

Philip Hammond isn’t known as Westminster’s most exciting MP. He lacks the bombast of a Boris Johnson or the polished ambition of a George Osborne. And yet, he has emerged as one of the most respected figures of the post-referendum government, with many City figures viewing him as “the grownup in the room”. Having backed [...]
Editor’s Notes: It’s hard to see how Corbyn’s Labour party could sink any lower, Brexiteers attempt some cheer and Michael Gove takes to Twitter like a duck to water

March 3, 2017

An American has taken out an advert in the Times to lay claim to the British throne. Allan Evans, of Colorado, says he is a descendant of a royal Welsh line dating back to the third century, and that “in 30 days’ time” he “shall claim his royal estate”. I was reading about Evans’ dubious [...]
Ministers cannot afford to echo Sir John Major’s nervousness over Brexit

March 1, 2017

For someone so dull, John Major manages to provoke passionate reactions. Among those who welcomed his latest intervention in the great Brexit debate he is hailed as a wise and respected grandfather to the nation, speaking sense at a time when the UK is running towards to a cliff edge. In contrast, he is seen [...]
Editor’s Notes: Snapchat woos London investors, Venezuela’s vice president reaches a new low and Channel 4’s Jon Snow needs to get a grip

February 24, 2017

Are you a Snapchatter? Do you even know what I’m talking about? Snapchat is a social media app that allows users to send images and videos to each other, often augmented by the addition of creative filters or effects. It’s also increasingly used as a platform for viewing and sharing news content. You may not [...]
Experts are vital, but so is scepticism and debate – take it from the Bank of England’s Minouche Shafik

February 23, 2017

Experts have come in for plenty of stick over the past 12 months. Michael Gove’s infamous assertion during the referendum campaign that “people have had enough” of them has entered political legend. His actual quote is overlooked: he was specifically criticising experts who worked at “organisations with acronyms” and who were “consistently getting it wrong”. So, [...]
Downing Street was up for a fight over the now scuppered $140bn Kraft Heinz-Unilever mega deal

February 20, 2017

Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Many of us spent the weekend chewing over the early manoeuvres of what would have been one of the largest corporate deals ever, but by Sunday evening Kraft Heinz declared it was “amicably” walking away from its audacious bid to scoop up Unilever. In just 48 hours, a [...]
Editor’s Notes: Lloyd’s has bigger things to worry about than staff nipping out for a drink

February 16, 2017

When I started working at a Westminster PR firm eight years ago, I had to learn how to drink at lunch. It wasn’t exactly a hardship. We were a small office (just three people when I joined) and every day we would decamp to the Italian next-door and see off a few bottles of red. [...]
The Treasury needs to rebuild public trust

February 13, 2017

Lord Kerslake popped up on Sunday morning to discuss the findings of his review into the current state of the Treasury. Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, was commissioned by shadow chancellor John McDonnell to assess the capabilities and remit of HMT and his findings look set to make interesting reading. Kerslake’s report is [...]
Editor’s notes: Follow the data: Our world is getting safer, richer and healthier

February 10, 2017

Towards the end of last year, my colleagues and I made a point of trying to buck the notion (most deep-rooted on social media, it must be said) that 2016 was a particularly dreadful year. Brexit, Trump and a host of celebrity deaths were held up as evidence of a wider disintegration of our fortunes. [...]

Could Burnham be the answer to free-to-air sport for all?

Could Burnham be the answer to free-to-air sport for all?

The best wine to take to a picnic in the sun

By: Christian May

All 577 Articles

Subscribe