Boris Johnson names Harvey McGrath new chair a week after his vicious attack on government鈥檚 response to the credit crunch

London mayor Boris Johnson today formally named Harvey McGrath the new chair of the London Development Agency (LDA).

Boris Johnson - London mayor

McGrath has been acting as interim chair of the body since Mary Reilly was dismissed in May following the mayoral election.

The news comes a week after McGrath launched a vicious attack on the government response to the economic crisis.

He told the London Assembly: 鈥淚'm in the camp of being pessimistic about the outlook for the UK economy and in particular for the financial services sector.

鈥淚 think that the policy responses that we鈥檝e seen from the government have been late and not vigorous enough and the consequence of that is it鈥檚 going to be more protracted and probably a bit deeper than it might otherwise have been.鈥�

The appointment, which will take immediate effect, came after the nomination was considered and confirmed by the London Assembly last Thursday.

It forms part of Johnson鈥檚 plans to bring greater transparency to the LDA, as set out in his election pledges.

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