Mark Glover, Newington's Chief Executive, looks at what the Conservative and Labour Conferences signal for businesses.

Having attended two Party Conferences and spoken with ministers and shadow ministers, activists and councillors, MPs and business people on a range of subjects, a number of things have struck me.

Firstly, from the Labour Conference in Brighton, it is becoming increasingly evident that the hard left control of the Labour Party is growing. From having a majority of the delegates, to increasing their numbers on the National Executive Committee (NEC), the hard left are slowly taking over the mechanisms of the Labour Party and imposing their top-down policy positions. A case in point is the increasing clamour for nationalisation of the rail, water and energy sectors – policy positions which have been championed by the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, and his team, and which are now taken up by the Shadow Cabinet, without ever needing to go through the normal policy processes.

If Labour is elected, the Shadow Cabinet will decide policy without the formal need to reference the NEC or indeed existing Labour policy processes (as happened with the Blair Government), and if McDonnell becomes Chancellor within a Corbyn-led Labour Government, nationalisation will not just remain a socialist aspiration but all too quickly could become a socialist Labour Government programme.

Second, from the Conservative Conference, even with all the disarray and in-fighting over Brexit, no one I spoke to was in any way interested in bringing down the Government and facing the prospect of an early General Election. Conservatives are known for their survival instincts, and from May downwards they will want as much time as possible to rectify their current position and increase their poll rating. I believe strongly that they will also want to go into the next election with a new leader not overly damaged by the Brexit process, and with a track record on the delivery of new domestic policy aimed at winning votes. Given that until 2019 much parliamentary time will be given to ‘The Repeal Bill’ and other Brexit-related legislation, it will only be in about two years’ time that new policies will be able to come forward. As a result, the Conservatives would like to go the full five years to ensure that new legislation has time to take effect and the public has the opportunity to feel the benefits.

Third, I would imagine that the Conservatives would ideally like to have a leadership contest in early 2020. This would give a new leader time to become associated with new, popular policies, but is not too far away from an election to risk a new Prime Minister’s feel-good factor beginning to wane. In the short term, therefore, Prime Minister May is probably safe – but be in no doubt that once Brexit is out of the way, there will be no shortage of people waiting to challenge her.

So ‘nationalisation’ a growing threat, a damaged but continuing Government, and the chances of a new Conservative Leader in 2020. If you want to know more about how this would affect your company and what you might need to do to address it, then do get in touch with Newington. We can provide you with the best possible political counsel from some of the top Conservative and Labour Party experts – who not only understand business, but also know how to influence the policy and processes of politics which can impact it.

Email [email protected] if you would like an initial meeting, or if you need advice on a specific issue.