Dorset Chamber CEO Ian Girling looks to engage with new MPs to tackle business challenges in a new, multi-coloured political landscape
As anticipated the July 4th General Election unsurprisingly saw a huge Labour victory with the Labour Party gaining more than 200 seats – a total of 412, with a majority of 174. The Conservatives suffered their worst result, in terms of seats, in their history, with a loss of 251 seats. There are just 121 Tory seats now remaining in the House of Commons.
Within Dorset, only two of our eight Conservative MPs survived the election – Simon Hoare and Sir Christopher Chope, and both with significantly reduced majorities. Now, a previously Blue Dorset consists of four Labour MPs, two Liberal Democrats and those two Conservatives.
I think it’s absolutely vital that MPs engage closely with business – I have written to all the Dorset MP’s and encouraged them to work with us in making sure the business voice is always heard. I have also written to our new Prime Minister and congratulated him on his election and stated we’d be delighted to welcome him to Dorset for a visit to businesses.
So what does this mean for business? Does this change in government threaten or bolster economic stability? Only time will tell. It’s true that after several challenging years of record-high inflation and rising interest rates, things are a little more stable now – inflation down to 2 per cent from a high in 2022 of 11 per cent. We’ve yet to see the Bank of England reduce interest rates, but I’m confident this will come. It’s going to be absolutely vital for the new government to maintain this path of economic stability and recovery.
Within Dorset, recruitment challenges and the cost of housing are two linked and significant issues – and something that we will be pushing on.
I am very keen we closely engage with our new MPs to develop a strong relationship with the Dorset business community. As the County Chamber of Commerce, we will do our absolute best to facilitate this.
