The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, raises many questions for the entrepreneurial class, including the key Fintech sector. Innovate Finance, an advocacy group supporting innovation in financial services, has distributed an email sharing thoughts on the new government.
Many pundits note that Burnham will swing the government further to the left, with policies that veer away from privatization and toward government control. While the opposition calls for a general election, at least for now, Labor and its policies are in control.
Innovate Finance dances around the hard questions and the answers, stating that “Burnham has recognized that the public is impatient for change that delivers tangible improvements to their household finances, which is why he has sought to use his first cabinet appointments to signal both a political reset and a commitment to economic stability.”
Optimistically, the group predicts “continuity” along with a government that focuses on regional growth and housing.
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, is said to be designed to “reassure financial markets.”
Jonathan Reynolds, who will lead the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology, is said to reinforce the goal of economic growth through partnerships with industry.
Innovate Finance concludes:
“…this new Cabinet should provide a degree of optimism that the economic approach of this government will create the conditions required for strong growth within the sector. However, with redirecting power away from London and the South East – and a number of special advisers already appointed to the No10North operation – there will be more pressure on you [IF members] to highlight how your projects and investments are benefiting the UK as a whole when engaging with key stakeholders.”
A tempered endorsement.