For decades, the Tories were seen as the custodians of business. New Labour worked hard to charm the City in the run up to 1997 but things went a bit tits up during the Corbyn years. However, Labour was afforded a golden opportunity to recouple when, in 2018, Boris Johnson declared “f*** business” — which many leaders firmly believe he did, especially on Brexit. Then came the turmoil of the short-lived Truss era.
Labour has been working overtime to capitalise on all this since Rachel Reeves became shadow chancellor. She and her team have been wooing captains of industry with what they call their “prawn cocktail offensive 2.0” — an homage to the City love-bombing Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did in the run up to 1997.
