Leading UK companies refuse to back Tories or Labour before election

Some of the UK’s biggest companies are refusing to back either of the main parties ahead of the country’s general election, as businesses attempt to avoid being drawn into partisan politics.

Labour landed an early blow against the ruling Conservatives when 120 business executives signed a letter backing the opposition party in the run-up to the July 4 election.

But the letter published by the Times on Monday was considered “light” on big names by City of London figures, with JD Sports chair Andrew Higginson the only sitting chair or chief executive of a FTSE 100 company to sign.

One headhunter said the list was “not . . . very impressive” and included a large number of “has beens”.

The Financial Times on Tuesday contacted the other 99 companies in London’s FTSE 100 index, asking whether they were backing a party ahead of the election.

Of the 58 that responded, 34 said they were not supporting any party, with several citing policies of political neutrality, while 24 declined to comment. Among the 34 were AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, British American Tobacco, Experian and Persimmon.

Big UK-listed companies and their bosses commonly seek to remain neutral in elections, with corporate endorsements playing a less significant role than in other countries such as the US.

“It’s a really difficult thing for current execs to do, and especially [at] listed companies,” said one public affairs adviser.

However, with five weeks to go in the UK election campaign, there could yet be high-profile corporate endorsements.

At the 2015 election BP and Prudential’s then bosses — Bob Dudley and Tidjane Thiam — backed the Conservatives in a personal capacity.

The 120 business chiefs who signed the letter backing Labour were a coup for party leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has been trying to detoxify relations with corporate Britain since he succeeded his hard-left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn in 2020.

Several lobbyists and advisers said it was notable that the Tories had failed to publish a list of business leaders supporting the party.

Those companies refusing to endorse any party on Tuesday included BT Group and Unilever, whose chief executives are members of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s business council. People close to BT and Unilever, which are in the FTSE 100, cited political neutrality.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves gave a keynote speech on Tuesday at Rolls-Royce, whose chief executive Tufan Erginbilgiç is another member of Sunak’s business council. Rolls said it remained neutral and was not backing any party.

Labour supplied the equipment for the event on Tuesday, including a stage, lights, autocue and chairs, said a person familiar with the matter.

Rolls-Royce said: “We work with governments and politicians around the world to help them understand our business, but we draw the line at stating any preference during elections.”

Santander UK, M&G, Fidelity International and Phoenix Group — all members of Labour’s advisory groups — declined to back any party. M&G and Phoenix are in the FTSE 100.

One public relations adviser said some companies were reluctant to back Labour because of uncertainty over how radical it would be in its plan to boost workers’ rights if it wins the election.

Two business advisers said companies might be more comfortable signing letters focused on specific policy areas rather than explicitly endorsing a particular party.

Conservative officials declined to say whether they expected senior business figures to endorse the party ahead of the election.

Labour declined to say whether it expected to secure additional big name business backers later in the campaign.

Additional reporting by George Parker, Harriet Agnew, Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu, Ian Johnston, Eri Sugiura and Madeleine Speed

​Letter in response to this article:

​Why com­pany bosses like to back the win­ning horse / From Pro­fessor Cos­tas Milas, Uni­versity of Liv­er­pool, UK