The Bank of England, which is the United Kingdom’s central bank, was established in 1694. As one of the world’s oldest central banks, the Bank of England also served as a model for most banks that followed it.

On this day, May 6th, in 1997, the Bank of England became free of political control.  While bank had been a subsidiary of the English government, the 1997 ruling gave operational independence over monetary policy.  The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee was then given control over setting interest rates.

The change in policy was greatly in thanks to the platform of the Labor party that came into power in the 1997 general election.