Business must be heard in a deafening political year - Andrew Henderson

In a year set to be dominated by elections across the world, businesses are pedalling fast to prepare for the wave of political change which may be coming their way – nationally and internationally. Because change invariably presents both threat and opportunity, it is vital that businesses ensure they are at the table rather than on the menu during this period of policy flux.

Changes in government (if not Prime Minister) occur relatively rarely. Should Labour prevail at the forthcoming General Election – as polls consistently indicate they will – then this will constitute just the third switch of party occupying No.10 in 45 years.

The sheer volume of events which have buffeted and coloured politics and policy over the 14 years since the Conservatives first came to office has been dizzying. Austerity in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis; referenda on Scottish Independence and the EU; the ensuing economic tumult from a “leave” vote in the latter; a global pandemic; war in Europe; an energy shock precipitating the most intense cost of living crisis in a generation; and recognition of the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, have served to throw multiple curveballs at our public institutions and, indeed, the businesses which drive the national economy.

With business leaders rightly focused on the “day job” through these trying times, and with the notion of Labour taking power only becoming a credible prospect relatively recently, it is perhaps understandable that many organisations now find themselves playing catch-up in their policy analysis, scenario planning and political relationship building.

Andrew Henderson, Director of Public Policy at Pinsent Masons

While a change of government is of course not certain, its possibility places an imperative on business leaders to acquaint themselves – with urgency (a spring election could be called as soon as this month) – with both the personalities and policies of a would-be new administration. Challenges abound here, especially when parties’ bandwidth for meaningful engagement narrows as they transition into election mode, and when “less is more” seems the order of the day when it comes to policy detail, for fear of opposition attack, or intra-party discord.

Scottish businesses find themselves in the position of needing not only to understand and navigate the seismic change which may in store at Westminster, but continuing to navigate devolved affairs where, all things being equal, the SNP and Greens will remain in office for a further two years.

In the early years of devolution, Scottish policy rarely diverged significantly from that of Westminster and Whitehall. Suffice to say this is no longer the case. It takes only a cursory comparison of Shona Robison’s Scottish Budget of less than three months ago, with Jeremy Hunt’s UK offering last week, to reveal economic approaches cut from a fundamentally different cloth.

With businesses facing into a multi-party, multi-dimensional political bunfight, and with the political temperature only set to increase through the General Election, and beyond to Holyrood elections in 2026, it will be more important than ever for organisations to engage directly, and through their representative groups, to clearly articulate their policy needs and call-out the economic peril of poorly-conceived policy.

Failure to do so risks the interests of individual business and entire sectors becoming collateral damage in the political crossfire.

Andrew Henderson, Director of Public Policy at Pinsent Masons