Bank of England governor Mark Carney lost his consensus on interest rates this month as two policymakers broke ranks and voted for higher borrowing costs. In the first split on the benchmark rate in more than three years, Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty wanted to raise it by 25 basis points from a record-low 0.5 per cent, according to the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's August 6-7 meeting. The remaining seven members, including Carney, opted for no change, saying early tightening could leave the economy "vulnerable to shocks" and jeopardise indebted households. In their analysis, Weale and McCafferty said economic circumstances "were sufficient to justify an immediate rise in bank rate" and the committee needed to move in advance of potential labour market pressure. They also said that even after a 25 basis-point increase, policy would remain "extremely supportive". The release of the voting record follows the publication of the bank's quarterly Inflation Report on August 13 in which it cut its forecast for wage growth and said inflation would remain below the 2 per cent target throughout its forecast period. "An early rise would facilitate the committee's aspiration that rises in bank rate should be only gradual," the minority of the committee said. While there would be risks associated with the first rate increase since the recession, "it was unclear that these risks would be lessened, and indeed possible they would be augmented, by delaying that increase". The last time the committee divided on interest rates was in July 2011, when Weale and former chief economist Spencer Dale wanted a 25 basis-point increase. Weale also voted against forward guidance in August 2013, which Carney introduced shortly after becoming governor. "It's a sort of symbolic breaking of the Carney consensus," said Ross Walker, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group. "At the most, there may be one more dissenter by November, but not necessarily. The others haven't really shifted." "We suspect that Weale and McCafferty will remain in the minority for a while," said James Knightley, an economist at ING Bank. "Low inflation numbers, the lack of wage growth and concerns about euro-zone growth -- the UK's largest trade partner, suggest that in the absence of upside activity data shocks the majority will continue to opt for the status quo in the next few months." Knightley added: "It currently looks more likely to be February when we see the first rate rise than our current published forecast of November."