More than 100 business leaders back UK Labor ahead of vote

More than 100 business leaders have thrown their support behind Britain’s Labor Party ahead of the July 4 election, saying the kingdom must end the instability and stagnation that has plagued the economy.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservatives have traditionally 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 runs the economy.

The letter, signed by current and former chief executives from retail, advertising, travel and finance, said Labor had shown it had changed and should be given the chance to shape the UK’s future.

Photo: AP

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

“We urgently need a new perspective to break free from the stagnation of the last decade, and we hope, by taking this public stance, to convince others of that need,” it said.

Labor will hope the approval shows it is no longer the party of Keir Starmer’s predecessor, veteran left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn, who campaigned at the last election in 2019 to renationalise some key assets and raise taxes on the wealthy.

Leaders who signed the letter include the head of retailer Iceland, the chairman of JD Sports, the head of the British arm of advertising 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 Labor held a roughly 20-point lead in the polls for nearly a year. He accused the government of 14 years of economic mismanagement, failing to give businesses the stability they crave and leaving people worse off.

Britain’s economic performance since the COVID-19 pandemic has been the weakest of the G7 economies, with the exception of Germany, weighed down by high debt levels and stuck in a slow growth rut.

Reeves was due to say later yesterday that the approval shows Labor can bring business investment back to Britain.

“Our growth plans are built on partnership with businesses,” she said.

Sunak’s Conservative Party says it has 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 shows the economy is back on track, it says.