Poll suggests business backing for Tories
According to a new poll for the Financial Times, most business leaders will be backing the Conservatives at the general election.
Despite Labour’s claim to have presided over unprecedented economic growth since 1997, nearly six out of ten (58 per cent) of the 200 finance directors from large and small firms surveyed said they were still plumping for the Tories and Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin.
A total of 26 per cent said they intended to vote Labour, while 14 per cent said they were opting for the Liberal Democrats, the MORI poll found.
Nearly six out of ten said they were “satisfied” with Chancellor Gordon Brown’s work at the Treasury; 38 per cent expressed dissatisfaction.
But Labour faired poorly on the question of which party had the best policies for business, with only 23 per cent backing the Government.
Nearly half (49 per cent) opted for the Tories, with ten per cent saying no party had pro-business policies.
Ninety per cent of finance directors predicted Labour would increase tax on business if it secured an historic third of power.
More than half (51 per cent) strongly disagreed with the view that the Government’s tax and regulatory regime fostered investment and expansion. Only four per cent said it made a difference.
A total of 45 per cent of interviewees said it did not make a difference.
More than half (55 per cent) of those interviewed said Labour’s macro-economic management of the economy would not improve the state of business in the long term. Four out of ten agreed it would.
On the question of whether Britain should embrace the EU constitution, opinion was more mixed with 30 per cent expressing strong opposition to the treaty, 38 per cent generally opposed, 26 per cent generally in favour and just four per cent expressing strong support.
