Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

More than 100 business leaders back Labour Party before vote

More than 100 business leaders back Labour Party before vote
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Getty Images

More than 100 business leaders have given their support to opposition Labour Party before a July 4 election, saying the country needs to end the instability and stagnation that has dogged the economy.

Rishi Sunak's governing Conservatives have typically been the party of big business but Labour's finance policy chief Rachel Reeves has spent years courting business owners in a bid to show her party can be trusted to run the economy.


The letter, signed by current and former chief executives in retail, advertising, travel and finance, said Labour had shown it had changed and should be given a chance to shape the country's future.

"We, as leaders and investors in British business, believe that it is time for a change," the letter said.

"We are in urgent need of a new outlook to break free from the stagnation of the last decade and we hope by taking this public stand we might persuade others of that need too."

Labour will hope the endorsement shows that it is no longer the party of Starmer's predecessor, veteran left-wing lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn, who campaigned at the last election in 2019 to renationalise some key assets and hike taxes on the rich.

Leaders who signed the letter include the boss of retailer Iceland, the chairman of JD Sports, the head of the UK arm of ad giant WPP, the former CEO of Aston Martin and the founder of a children's company that once included Sunak's wife Akshata Murty as an investor.

Starmer's Labour have held an around 20-point lead in polls for almost a year. It has accused the government of 14 years of economic mismanagement, failing to give business the stability it craves and leaving people worse off.

Britain's economic performance since the Covid-19 pandemic has been the weakest among the Group of Seven economies with the exception of Germany, weighed down by high levels of debt and stuck in a rut of slow growth.

Reeves will say later on Tuesday the endorsement shows that Labour can bring business investment back to Britain. "Our plans for growth are built on partnership with business," she will say.

Sunak's Conservatives say they have had to steer the economy through the twin shocks of Covid-19 and the energy spike that followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A recent drop in inflation, they say, shows that the economy is back on track.

After an underwhelming start to the election campaign, Sunak has proposed tax cuts for millions of pensioners - the section of the electorate that is most likely to vote Conservative.

The new proposal will cost £2.4 billion a year by 2029/30 and be funded through government efforts to clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion, the party said.

More for you

New Covent Garden Market

Young women publicising Barney Springer Ltd produce at the New Covent Garden Market on the day of its official opening in Nine Elms, London, UK, 11th November 1974

Photo by Reg Lancaster/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

'London's best-kept secret': UK's largest wholesale market turns 50



By the time most Londoners had rolled out of bed on Monday morning, Gary Marshall was already winding down for the day at New Covent Garden Market.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindt CHOCO WAFER

Lindt CHOCO WAFER

Lindt melted own 'excellence' claim in US lawsuit: reports

In a bid to dodge a US lawsuit, Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprungli has scuppered its own claims about the excellence of its products - a cornerstone of its marketing strategy.

Lindt has unsuccessfully tried to end a class action lawsuit in the United States, launched in February 2023 following an article by a US consumer association questioning the presence of heavy metals in dark chocolate bars from several manufacturers, including two bars produced by Lindt.

Keep ReadingShow less
Badenoch blames civil servants for Horizon IT scandal compensation delays

Britain's main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, arrives to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London on November 11, 2024. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Badenoch blames civil servants for Horizon IT scandal compensation delays

The government let bureaucracy get in the way of redress for wronged sub postmasters, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch today (11) told the inquiry into the Post Office scandal.

The Tory leader said that during her time as business secretary, she and former postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake "wanted to get the money out there" but were constantly given reasons why they could not by officials.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wave of armed robberies strike Derbyshire c-stores

iStock image

Wave of armed robberies strike Derbyshire c-stores

A string of robberies have hit more than half a dozen convenience stores in Derbyshire in the past weeks in which a significant amounts of cash was stolen from stores including a Best One and several Co-ops.

According to latest reports, seven stores in Derbyshire were struck by armed robbers in the last six weeks. Police have shared footage of one of such robbery in which a shopkeeper can be seen fighting off a knife-wielding robber.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Over two-thirds in retail suffer abuse from customers'

iStock image

'Over two-thirds in retail suffer abuse from customers'

A good majority (69 per cent) of those working in retail have experienced verbal abuse while most of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting, shows a recent report by retail trade union Usdaw.

According to the interim results based on over 4,000 retail staff responses show that in the last twelve months, 69 per cent have experienced verbal abuse while 45 per cent were threatened by a customer. 17 per cent were assaulted while 70 per cent of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less