Opposition attracts Anyone even remotely interested in British politics will be abundantly  aware of the rebuild of the Labour Party which Sir Keir Starmer has overseen since taking the reins as leader.

Indeed, in terms of headline voting intention, most opinion polls show that Labour has enjoyed a lead over the Conservatives since around late 2021.¹⁶ The British public once again views Labour as a credible party to govern the country.

That may be true for the average voter, but how do entrepreneurs as a distinct group feel? Do they share the general public's support for a change in government? Our polling suggests so.

We asked entrepreneurs to rate the extent to which they think politicians of all the major UK political parties understand what their businesses need to succeed. In net terms,¹⁷ Labour comes out comfortably on top, with a net score of +17%. Some way behind them are the Liberal Democrats, with +5%. We then head into negative territory - the Conservatives and Green Party each tie on -2%, and the Scottish National Party come last on -3%.

Interpreting the data further, Labour leads all other parties among owners of smaller businesses and medium-sized businesses (those with revenues of between £1 million and £10 million per annum), while it's head to head with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats among founders of larger businesses.

Strikingly, all political parties performed better with founders of larger businesses than they did with those of smaller businesses. Nearly half of the founders of larger businesses agreed that Labour politicians understand what they need to succeed, in comparison to just 34% of smaller business founders, which was the highest among all parties.

The difference is even more stark for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. While half of entrepreneurs who own larger businesses think that Conservatives understand what their business needs are (50%), among founders of smaller businesses, this falls to 28%. Forty-six percent of founders of larger businesses think the Liberal Democrats understand what businesses need to succeed, compared to just 29% of founders of smaller businesses.

Our data isn't an aberration, but proof that Labour's pivot to business is paying dividends. In the so-called “smokedsalmon offensive,” Rachel Reeves allegedly met with more than 250 business executives in her first year as Shadow Chancellor.18 On the policy front, Reeves has stayed adamant on fiscal discipline, refusing to consider tax increases and showing restraint on questions of public spending.19

It seems the business community - from large multinationals to fledgling entrepreneurs - is showing a level of trust in Labour on the economy, in a way that would have been entirely unthinkable just a few years prior.