Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, looks at the economic and market challenges facing Andy Burnham as he prepares to enter Downing Street.
Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist, Wealth Club:
As Andy Burnham prepares to get the keys for Downing Street, he’s under pressure to unlock UK growth and the first challenge he’ll need to address is how to restore confidence and put the country back on the road to stability. Andy Burnham is inheriting an economy where political turmoil has become a defining feature of the landscape, so restoring stability will be crucial to boosting confidence. He will be the seventh Prime Minister in a decade, so investors will want to see a reset and reassurance that the economic landscape will remain predictable enough to justify committing capital for the long term.
The recent run of London’s FTSE 100 may offer a timely lesson to the incoming prime minister. While global markets have been shaken by a fresh bout of technology turbulence, the UK’s blue-chip index has proved relatively resilient, supported by its exposure to established sectors with reliable cash flows and far less exposure to the high-growth technology stocks bearing the brunt of the sell-off. However, the Footsie’s constituents have also languished at lower valuations compared to its peers partly due to political uncertainty induced by Brexit. It’s clear that the London market needs to be revitalised, with more support for fledgling tech companies before they fly off to seek fortune abroad.
Burnham’s Manchesterism economics could be seen as a microcosm of the UK in the global economy. His time as Greater Manchester mayor has centred on using devolution, transport investment and regeneration to unlock growth. Burnham argues that greater support needs to be given to the regions, just as the UK itself needs a dose of investment to compete globally. In some ways, the UK is ‘the North’ of the global economy. Just as the region has historically relied on established industries, the UK is also more reliant on the ‘old economy’. That is reflected in the FTSE 100’s exposure to energy, mining, banks, defence, healthcare and consumer brands, rather than the AI and technology companies that have driven much of the recent global market rally. The challenge will be to combine the reliability of traditional industries with the dynamism of innovation, ensuring that the UK is not simply a safe haven during periods of market turbulence, but a place where the next generation of high-growth companies can also take root.
