Traders and bankers in Mayfair and the City of London are working in a Labour constituency for the first time today, symbolizing the extent to which voters shunned the Conservatives even in traditional strongholds.
The two areas — epicenters of capitalism in the UK — are part of the Cities of London and Westminster constituency, which also includes exclusive neighborhoods like Belgravia and Knightsbridge where the average house price is in the millions. That didn’t stop Labour from winning 39% of the votes as the Conservative Party saw its share of the vote drop 8% to 32%.
It was a scenario reflected across the country as Labour won in a landslide as Conservative support imploded. But with Labour — under Keir Starmer — carefully cultivating the City, most in the Square Mile are relatively sanguine.
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Anne Glover, co-founder and chief executive officer of venture capital firm Amadeus Capital, told Bloomberg Television that she welcomed the “five years of stability” brought by the Labour Party’s majority. “What we need is continuity, we invest for 10 to 15 years, so we need to know well beyond the electoral cycle what the policies are going to be,” she said.
Chris Hayward, who chairs policy for the governing body of the City of London, said private sector finance “must play a central role” if Labour is to achieve its clean energy aims. He cited the Square Mile’s recent economic growth plan that calls for a package of reforms to bolster investment in the UK, including encouraging the UK’s pensions industry to deploy more money into the economy.
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