Billionaire Tory donor John Caudwell to back Labour now

Billionaire John Caudwell, a major donor for the Conservative Party before the 2019 national election in Britain, announced on Tuesday that he will now support Keir Starmer's Labour Party in the upcoming July 4 vote.

"I can declare publicly that I will vote for Labour, and I encourage everybody to do the same," Caudwell said.

"We need a very strong Labour Government that can take extremely bold decisions, and you can rest assured that I will be doing my best to influence them wherever I can, in putting the great back in Britain."

Opinion polls consistently show Labour leading for a victory that would end 14 years of Conservative government. A recent poll by Ipsos estimated Labour could win 453 seats to the Conservatives' 115, giving them a substantial parliamentary majority of 256.

Caudwell, who made nearly 1.5 billion pounds in 2006 by selling his mobile phone retailer Phones 4u, expressed dissatisfaction with the Conservatives' performance in government for "many years".

In a previous interview with Reuters, Caudwell expressed frustration with the Conservatives but noted Labour as untested.

On Tuesday, he criticized current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's handling of the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic and pointed out a perceived lowering of ethical standards under former leader Boris Johnson. He described Liz Truss's brief tenure, which unsettled financial markets, as a "debacle".

Caudwell praised Labour's focus on accelerating economic growth in their manifesto: "As I have always said, the government must be much more commercially minded to grow GDP to finance public services that benefit all of society without increasing taxes."

Labour leader Starmer welcomed Caudwell's support, stating, "I’m delighted that John, someone with such a successful track-record in business, has today thrown his support behind the changed Labour Party that I lead. The message is clear: business backs change and economic stability with Labour, and rejects 5 more years of chaos and decline with the Tories."

(Reuters)