Former Bank of England Governor Robin Leigh-Pemberton Dies

Robin Leigh-Pemberton, the former Bank of England governor, has died aged 86.

Leigh-Pemberton, who was made a life peer as Lord Kingsdown in 1993 when he left the Bank of England, became governor in 1983.

Before joining the bank, he had been a chairman at National Westminster Bank, chairman of Kent County Council, and a barrister. He had been educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford.

"On behalf of the Bank and all its staff, both past and present, I extend our most sincere sympathies to Lord Kingsdown's wife and family," said Mark Carney, Bank of England governor.

"He made a substantial contribution to economic policy and the financial system of the United Kingdom, both in the public and private sector.

"He will be fondly remembered by current and former colleagues at the Bank of England."

Lord Kingsdown was governor on Black Wednesday in 1992, when Prime Minister John Major's Conservative government pulled sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism because it could not halt the pound's devaluation to below the minimum level for participation in the system.

"A tall, imposing and cheerful man, Robin had a talent for inspiring and persuading others to work for him," said Mervyn King, Bank of England governor from 2003 to 2013 but who had first joined the institution in 1992.

"A born captain, he will be remembered with deep affection by the members of his team."