It is only in the City of London — for unique historical reasons — that businesses can vote for their elected representatives.
If that bizarre democratic franchise was extended across the rest of the capital, it seems that Sadiq Khan would be the preferred choice of London’s wealth creators.
A poll today shows Labour holding a 15% lead over the Conservatives among business leaders.
That is less that the gap among the actual electorate, but still significant given the traditionally closer links between business and the Tories.
I suspect the lead does not reflect any great love for the Mayor, despite his protestations that he would lead the most pro-business City Hall administration in history.
I have to sit through too many moans about levels of crime and London’s sclerotic planning regime, among other complaints, to be under any illusion about that. But the Tories have not done themselves any favours with a relentlessly anti-London tone to their policy and speech making since Brexit.
And let’s be honest, the party blew any last residual loyalty among the business community the minute Kwasi Kwarteng stood up to deliver THAT speech just over a year and a half ago.
The shock waves that reverberated through the economy and financial markets may have finally calmed — as today’s strong mortgage lending figures suggest — but the political reputational damage lives on.
I have always felt that the Mayor’s actual powers are so limited that it is quite hard for the holder of that office to really mess up a beast as powerful as London’s economy. Under Sadiq Khan the investment has continued to flow in, particularly in tech.
You only have to look at how the skyline has changed since he was first elected in 2016 to appreciate how vast sums of money has continued to be drawn to the capital during the Khan years.
London is prospering again and he will reap the benefit on Thursday
