Rishi Sunak's governing Conservatives have typically been the party of big business but Labor’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, Reuters reported. The letter, signed by current and former chief executives in retail, advertising, travel and finance, said Labor 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." Labor 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 renationalize 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 Labor 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 performan.