A senior civil servant has been appointed as deputy governor with responsibility for financial stability at the Bank of England.

Sir Jon Cunliffe, currently the UK's ambassador to the European Union, is the surprise choice to replace Paul Tucker in the role from November.

Sir Jon, 60, joined the civil service in 1980 and has had a wide variety of roles including at HM Treasury and the Prime Minister's Office.

He also led British negotiators at the G8 and G20 meetings during the financial crisis. At the BoE he takes up a five-year term which can be renewed once.

He said: "It is both an honour and an exciting challenge to be joining the Bank now, as it takes on formally its new role and responsibilities for financial stability."

Governor Mark Carney said: "I have been fortunate to have worked with Jon for over a decade on a wide variety of international issues at the G7, G20 and Financial Stability Board.

"He is an outstanding public servant, with vast experience of financial and economic policy."

Sir Jon's international background may have given him an edge over potential internal contenders for the deputy governorship, such as BoE markets director Paul Fisher and financial stability director Andy Haldane.

Malcolm Barr, an economist at J.P. Morgan, said Sir Jon has strong credentials but there could be no way of knowing how he would in the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee.

"He wasn't on the list of front runners for the job but his CV fits the bill

"It's hard to know how he'll vote on the MPC because he has said nothing on monetary policy that I'm aware of."

Separately it was announced Mr Tucker will be taking up a senior role at Harvard University in the US in October.

He said: "I am greatly looking forward to being at Harvard and having the chance to engage more deeply with the academic community."