Kemi Badenoch mocks bosses who got here out for Labour
Kemi Badenoch led the ridicule of Labour last night after the party published a letter from 121 business backers that did not include a single FTSE 100 boss.
The letter said the General Election was a ‘chance to change the country’, but the signatories included few business heavyweights.
Critics were quick to point out the lack of high-profile figures on the list. Among the better known names were the former Heathrow and Aston Martin bosses whose records in charge were far from stellar.
Business Secretary Ms Badenoch tweeted: ‘The letter supposedly showing support from business has unravelled less than 24 hrs later.
‘Signed mainly by ‘former’ business people, lobbyists and, in some cases, bosses of now dormant companies!
‘This is why I say Labour is not a serious party.
‘The signatories claim Labour will bring change. Yes, they will…change for the WORSE! Conservatives don’t need fake professors when we have real policies.’
Kemi Badenoch led the ridicule of Labour last night after the party published a letter from 121 business backers that did not include a single FTSE 100 boss
‘After two years of trying, Labour’s list of so-called business heavyweights wouldn’t quicken the blood of a local rotary group,’ said Andrew Griffith, the Tory science minister, who was once an executive at broadcaster Sky
Other names on the list included long-time Labour supporting lobbyists as well as founders of little-known tech start-ups and even a Surrey-based ice cream parlour owner.
The list represents the culmination of years of lobbying by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor, and Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, as they have tried to shore up business support.
‘After two years of trying, Labour’s list of so-called business heavyweights wouldn’t quicken the blood of a local rotary group,’ said Andrew Griffith, the Tory science minister, who was once an executive at broadcaster Sky.
‘And no wonder, when leaders still working in business know that Labour’s French-style labour laws and unfunded spending promises will send the cost of wages and investment skyrocketing and cripple British firms.’
Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com, said: ‘These aren’t high-profile figures.
‘High-profile figures understandably want to see what’s in the manifestos… before blindly going with the flow.’
It comes amid concern in the City about the direction a government led by Sir Keir will take.
Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com, said: ‘These aren’t high-profile figures’
That is despite Labour’s leadership embarking on a frenzied effort to woo corporate Britain in a so-called ‘smoked salmon’ charm offensive.
In public, top bosses who may be privately preparing for the possibility of a Labour government have so far been more guarded in their comments.
Asked last week about the election, Nationwide building society boss Debbie Crosbie simply said that the lender wants to see ‘anything that stimulates growth’.
And Sir Martin Sorrell, the ad industry mogul and one of the City’s best known figures – now chief executive of S4 Capital –said: ‘There will be some who worry about what Labour says and what it does.’
In a letter to The Times, the coalition of business figures said that Britain needs a ‘new outlook’ so that it can ‘break free’ from a decade of economic stagnation.
‘Labour has shown it has changed and wants to work with business to achieve the UK’s full economic potential. We should now give it the chance to change the country and lead Britain into the future,’ it reads.
Among the better known signatories was John Holland-Kaye, whose time at Heathrow was plagued by chaos during the reopening after Covid lockdowns.
Also on the list was Andy Palmer who quit as boss of Aston Martin in 2020 after a 98 per cent plunge in its share price.
Starmer’s less-than-stellar supporters
Richard Walker OBE
Richard Walker OBE
Executive chairman, Iceland Foods
Despite supporting Labour this week, the chief of supermarket Iceland wrote to the Tories last year pleading to be an MP candidate.
Mr Walker eventually backtracked and declared that he was ditching the party – arguing they were ‘out of touch’.
John Holland-Kaye
Former CEO, Heathrow
John Holland-Kaye
Mr Holland-Kaye ran Britain’s biggest airport for more than a decade before stepping down in 2023.
During this time he faced backlash over expansion plans and was criticised for firing and rehiring 4,000 staff during the pandemic.
He has since taken a seat on the board of Thames Water, which is facing its own £18 billion debt pile and water quality crisis.
Charles Randell
Charles Randell
Former chairman, Financial Conduct Authority
Mr Randell spent much of his three-year tenure at the financial watchdog battling criticism over its handling of the £237 million London Capital & Finance investment scandal.
In 2018 he admitted to an ‘error of judgment’ after investing in a controversial tax avoidance scheme that saw him repaying more than £100,000.
Iain Anderson
Chairman, H/Advisors Cicero
Iain Anderson
The former adviser to Boris Johnson jumped ship to Labour last year after accusing the Government of having a ‘f*** business’ attitude.
Mr Anderson was Mr Johnson’s ‘LGBT business champion’ and had spent nearly four decades as a Tory Party member.
But in a dramatic turn of events, he said that the Conservatives were ‘not the party it used to be’.
He resigned as the Government’s LGBT business champion in April 2022 after ministers initially said they would not ban transgender conversion therapy.
Andy Palmer CMG
Andy Palmer CMG
Former CEO, Aston Martin
Mr Palmer was sacked from the luxury car maker in 2020 following a slump in sales and concerns over the firm’s share price.
He struggled to steer the business through the pandemic and by the time he left, Aston Martin’s share price was down 98 per cent in just two years.
