Mervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury banks", pinpointing the banks' sense of grievance on their finding it "very, very difficult to face up to the failure of their banking model". With King's term as governor ending in 2013, top UK banks have warned that unless a less "hostile" figure is found as a successor, they may feel it necessary to move abroad. On 26 November 2012, Mark Carney was named as King's successor. King had faced accusations of refusing funding to the Northern Rock Bank, precipitating a run on that bank, a situation not seen in the UK since 1914. King later said that it had
Mervyn King, Baron King of Lothbury married in a private ceremony in a church in Helsinki in 2007. King is a fan of Aston Villa F.C.. He once arranged a game between Bank of England employees and ex-Villa players. He served on Villa's board of directors from February until April 2016, and then he, along with fellow board member former Football Association chairman David Bernstein, resigned in protest against owner Randy Lerner's stewardship of the club. King briefly found himself commentating on an Ashes Test Match for BBC Radio's "Five Live" in 2005, while being interviewed by Simon Mayo. He is the president of the cricket