Downing Street’s parties during lockdown have galvanised Westminster and incensed voters, leaving Boris Johnson fighting for his political life. But amid tumbling Conservative opinion poll ratings, a MP defecting to Labour and the daily drip-feed of further revelations, one interest group has been unmoved: the financial markets.
The City’s main share yardstick, the FTSE 100 index, has risen by 400 points in the past month as the prime minister’s partygate woes have worsened. Over the same period, the pound has risen by two cents against the dollar and is trading at its highest level against the euro since early 2020.
