Labour launches ‘Prawn Cocktail Offensive 2.0’ to woo big business
LABOUR has launched a “Prawn Cocktail Offensive 2.0” to win over the City as the party nears power, holding meetings and dinners with FTSE 100 and global giants including Tesco, NatWest and Amazon.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, and Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, have been on a blitz of breakfasts and dinners in the Square Mile amid a scramble in recent weeks by chief executives to meet Labour’s top team.
City sources said Sir Keir Starmer’s push for a sea change in relations from the Corbyn era is being spearheaded by Vidhya Alakeson, an ex-Treasury and US government official appointed into the Labour leader’s team earlier this year. It is understood the party is regularly engaging with a number of major UK businesses, including NatWest, HSBC and EY, as its surge in the polls puts it on track for a return to power.
The “Prawn Cocktail Offensive” was a push by Labour to restore trust with businesses when it was in opposition in the 1990s before its landslide election victory under Tony Blair. Sir Keir’s renewed charm offensive comes after business relations crumbled under Jeremy Corbyn’s radical Left leadership.
Labour is also believed to have met with major British employers Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Amazon, while City sources said it has sought views from housebuilding giants Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey.
However, it is understood that BT has been frozen out by Labour while it battles the militant Communication Workers Union over pay.
Party sources said Labour is in “live conversations” over securing public endorsements from prominent bosses for the run-up to an election as it gears up for its business conference in December. It comes after Tesco chair John Allan last week backed the party’s growth plans, saying there is “only one team on the field” in British politics.
Political lobbyists and Labour sources said the party’s economic team is being inundated with requests from businesses for meetings in recent weeks after the collapse in the Tories’ polling under Liz Truss. Public relations firm Tulchan is believed to be leading a number of Labour events with business in the coming months.
A senior Labour source said: “We’ve been really beefing up our outreach to business, the City and beyond. It’s all happening from multiple different parts of the party and it’s been going on for some time now. From lobbyists and public affairs, there’s a huge amount more interest in the last few weeks.”
Sir Keir and Ms Reeves are also understood to have directly contacted the chairs of FTSE 100 companies to discuss Labour’s plans for the economy, while Britain’s top five business groups – known as the B5 – are meeting with Labour ministers every two weeks.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Tulchan, which counts Conservative peer Andrew Feldman, the party’s former chairman, as managing director at the public relations agency, has organised two dinners in November for City executives to meet Labour politicians.
One will be hosted by Ms Reeves, and the other by Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary. The PR firm has also arranged an online question and answer session next month for business leaders to quiz Mr Reynolds. “Interest has been high,” one City source said. Sir Keir will also host to a drinks reception for the members of blue-chip boardrooms in November, sources added.
A poll by YouGov on Friday put Labour on 56pc and the Conservatives on 19pc, a 37-point chasm that would mean near-wipeout for the Tories if it were repeated at the next election.