MERVYN KING is the right man to lead the Bank of England for another five years despite his poor handling of the Northern Rock crisis, according to a Kent boss.

Mr King's reappointment as governor had been in doubt following criticism of the way he responded to the near-collapse of the mortgage bank. He was accused of not acting soon enough on the credit crunch and delaying an injection of cash into the banking system.

Dithering led to a run on Northern Rock, with pictures of anxious savers queueing to withdraw their cash damaging the reputation of British banking. He also irritated the Government with comments that appeared to criticise ministers.

However, he won the backing of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling for a second term.

Frazer Thompson, chairman of the Institute of Directors in Kent, supported the decision, saying the uncertainty surrounding the appointment of a new governor might have caused a widespread loss of business confidence.

Stability at the Bank of England was essential at a time of political uncertainty. With a new Prime Minister and a new Chancellor, the last thing business wanted was a new governor. And the Financial Services Authority should at least share blame for the situation at Northern Rock.

"Although Mervyn has made mistakes, especially over Northern Rock, the general consensus is he has done a pretty good job in running the Bank of England," Mr Thompson said.

"He will have benefited from going through that crisis and prior to that it would be very hard to say he hadn't been anything other than a very competent governor."

Mr Thompson, managing director of Chapel Down Winery at Tenterden, added: "He's handled himself well since the Northern Rock situation and it would have been hard to throw him out of office."