Inflect
With the Devolution Agenda accelerating, will the South East be left behind?
The new Labour government has made devolution a cornerstone of its vision for Britain, introducing an English Devolution Bill as one of the centrepieces of its first King’s Speech with the aim of “moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best”.
Read More
After the euphoria, does Labour have a Southern problem?
The Labour Party swept to an impressive victory at the July General Election, overturning a catastrophic loss in 2019 to a 180-seat majority in 2024.
Read More
The election will bring political change to the South East
With the General Election scheduled for 4 July and Labour still enjoying significant poll leads over the Conservatives, the South East is looking set to be a key electoral battleground, and the national result could have significant implications for the region. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are targeting seats in the South East, with […]
Read More
What does Labour’s ‘mission-based government’ mean for business?
With a General Election edging ever closer and the polls suggesting a change of government is on the cards, many businesses are starting to think more seriously about what a Labour administration means for them. Central to the Labour Party’s pitch at the election is the idea of its five missions – centred around economic […]
Read More
Offering flexible work can help you tap a latent talent pool
The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics tell us that 8.68 million people aged 16-64 are economically inactive in the UK, while at the same time, there are more than 900,000 vacancies across the country. Just 1.57 million of those economically inactive people are classified as unemployed, with the rest made up of […]
Read More
2024 Promises Another Year of Uncertainty When all Business wants is Stability
Whatever you think of the merits of HS2, it is unquestionable that the project suffered from stops, starts, redesigns and complications – all of which contributed to the spiralling costs. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Uncertainty increases risk and costs then rise as parties try to mitigate the risk or be compensated for accepting it. The […]
Read More
The local authority funding crisis is coming to the South East
With news that the largest local authority in Western Europe has declared bankruptcy, many councils in the South East will be nervously looking over their shoulder. It’s no great secret that local authority funding has been cut significantly since 2010, primarily as a result of a 17.5% real-terms cut in central government grants. However, what […]
Read More
The South East is becoming a political battleground
Expert advice from Harry Shackleton, a partner at strategic communications and business transformation consultancy Inflect Partners It was indicative that Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, chose to visit Medway to celebrate the May 2023 local elections results. With the governing Conservative party losing more than a thousand seats overnight, there were plenty of victories […]
Read More
A Budget for growth?
The rows over the government’s recent Budget continue to rumble on, and for businesses in the South East, the impact is still being assessed.
Read More