Arise Sir Oliver: Dowden given knighthood and Grayling to the Lords

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister and former Tory party chair, had a knighthood confirmed just half an hour before the polls closed this evening.

Oliver Dowden will become a Sir alongside Julian Smith and Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary. They have all received the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath honour.

Scottish secretary Alastair Jack has also been given a knighthood.

Therese Coffey, the long-time Cabinet minister, has been made a Dame.

Amongst the ‘dissolution peerages’ were places in the House of Lords for Sir Graham Brady, the longtime Tory grandee, Chris Grayling, and former Prime Minister Theresa May.

Liam Booth-Smith, Rishi Sunak’s chief of staff, has also been given a seat in the House of Lords.

Peerages were also given to Labour figures Dame Margaret Hodge and Harriet Harman, as well as Dame Margaret Beckett.

The general election is being held on July 4 and polls anticipate a significant Labour victory.

Polls opened nationwide on Thursday, July 4, at 7 a.m. and will close at 10 p.m.

At 10pm, a final exit poll will be released, which should give a strong indication of how the country has voted.

The first actual results of the General Election are not due for more than an hour later, with the bulk expected to be announced in the early hours of Friday, July 5.

Five of the best good boys (and girls) at polling stations

Elections are festivals of democracy but no matter their objections to mandatory leads, grass-walking policies or anti-swimming laws, dogs of Britain are in many ways excluded.

That does not stop them however providing much of the finest entertainment on election day – with dogs unable to enter into polling stations, they often wait outside.

Here’s our pick of some of the best boys and girls on today’s election trail.

A very good labrador waits patiently at Ingleby Cross in North Yorkshire.

Some candidates dragged their unwilling pooches to the polls, too.

Labour candidate for Cardiff North Anna McMorrin’s dog Cadi was smiling for the cameras. Give that good boy (or girl) a boneo.

Current polling suggests the Conservative party could lose to a degree not seen in almost 200 years – or more than 1400 dog years.

Retriever pup Tui was nonplussed by the significance of the day, however, but enjoyed the early morning sunshine in south London.

Meanwhile this Westie waited patiently for polls to open in Great Ayton.

We’ll be covering the election all night on our City A.M. live blog. Where you’ll find out the results at the same time as this red setter in London, as well as the guy in the bear suit.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 04: A dog looks towards a protestor in a bear suit as he stands outside a polling station on July 04, 2024 in London, England. Voters in 650 constituencies across the UK are electing members of Parliament to the House of Commons via the first-past-the-post system. Rishi Sunak announced the election on May 22, 2024. The last general election that took place in July was in 1945, following the Second World War, which resulted in a landslide victory for Clement Attlee’s Labour Party. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

This government is out of ideas, out of energy, and deserves to be out of office

Starmer or Sunak: City A.M. delivers its verdict on the 2024 General Election

Much has recently been made of whether Keir Starmer works after 6pm. For the record, he does. But as smart City bosses know, it’s not when you work, or how much, but how effectively you do so.

The government, for instance, has been grafting for some fourteen years. For large chunks of the latter half of that period, whether up with the lark or burning the midnight oil, they have produced little of note from their toil. 

In truth, this version of the Conservative party was doomed when, rather than casting off the Liz Truss budget or moving on from the Brexit wars, Rishi Sunak elected not to serve his country but to keep his party together.

Since Sunak took office, the government has stood for almost nothing; it has shown little vision, little idea of what Britain it wanted to be build, and those chinks of light that were offered were directly contradicted by the government’s actions. It is all very well saying you’re building a low-tax economy; doing it whilst cranking the tax burden up to a seventy-year high is another thing altogether. Likewise it’s no good promising to build the houses this country desperately needs having capitulated to Nimby backbenchers on mandatory targets.

We believe that somewhere in Rishi Sunak is a man who gets the markets and instinctively understands the high-tech, high-investment economy that Britain can have, and that government must enable. However, over and over again, he has failed to articulate it; he has pandered to his party’s worst instincts on immigration, on personality politics, indulging in some of the most childish political campaigning we’ve seen in a generation and becoming carried away by the fantasy politics of Rwanda deportations and an £8.3bn pothole fund. The party’s ‘big offer’ is to continue doing the things it has either been doing or trying (and failing) to do, and hoping for a different result. With years of mismanagement in the rear-view mirror, that is an unappealing prospect.

City A.M. hopes that what emerges from the inevitable battle for the soul of the Conservatives is a party once again committed to freedom, choice and opportunity. Recent political chaos has obscured the essential truth that free markets are a force for good and an engine for prosperity – and Britain will need politicians capable of articulating that message to a sceptical public.

But for now, it is hard to conclude anything other than this: this government is out of energy, out of ideas, and should, therefore, be out of office. 

Does this mean a full-throated endorsement of Keir Starmer’s Labour? That is, unfortunately, beyond us.

The party’s ‘big offer’ is to continue doing the things it has either been doing or trying (and failing) to do, and hoping for a different result

As Starmer has said to us in the past, almost everything is easier in opposition than in government. Pro-business rhetoric has not been matched thus far by concrete policies and more specifically, concrete promises of what won’t happen. We remain spooked by the possibility of changes to capital gains taxation, effectively a levy on entrepreneurship. Whilst Starmer’s commitment to get Britain building is welcome, we are still concerned that others in the party may shake from their belief when they are constituency MPs, and we too know too little about whether – if growth proves more difficult to achieve than Rachel Reeves et al hope – the party’s historic instinct to lean on the public sector and a larger state has been controlled.  

What you do with your vote is your business. We aren’t arrogant enough to tell you what to do with it. 

But should the polls come to fruition, we hope Starmer and Reeves can fulfil their ambitions for growth. Britain is stagnant; it has been for many years. A lack of political will has stopped the country from addressing the fundamental issues at play, from planning reform to infrastructure investment. And should he become Prime Minister, we are hopeful – optimistic, even, we will be surprised to the upside.

Above all: he is a self-evidently decent man, a grown-up, almost a technocrat but more than that, too. For all his public sector experience, the suspicion is he understands the role of business and indeed of London and the City. He has shown himself fitting of the office to which he aspires and his party has campaigned, with some exceptions, in a similar vein. Now he must deliver on his promise.

Andy Murray OUT of Wimbledon singles – but he’s not saying farewell just yet

Andy Murray will not play in the gentlemen’s singles at Wimbledon this year, failing to recover from spinal cyst surgery in time to take his place in the draw today.

However the two-time Wimbledon champion will be playing doubles alongside his brother at the SW19 showpiece.

The Scot has already told fans that this will be his last Wimbledon tournament, with retirement on the way at the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year,” a spokesman said this morning.

“As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time.”

Earlier this week Andy Murray told reporters that “it’s getting better and the testing I’ve done has been good. I just need to decide whether it’s enough to compete.”

He played a lengthy practice match yesterday and had been hoping to step out on court in the singles just nine days after the surgery.

The decision to play doubles means that fans will have the chance to say goodbye to Britain’s most successful tennis player of the modern era later in the tournament.

Yesterday’s first day at Wimbledon saw last year’s gentlemen’s winner Carlos Alcaraz battle past Mark Lajal on centre court in the tournament opener.

And Emma Raducanu overcame a slow start to win her own first round match, also on Wimbledon’s centre court.

Other Brits including Jack Draper and Katie Boulter start their tournaments today.

Lloyd’s chair slams plans for Shard-height skyscraper next to Leadenhall Market

The chairman of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London has made a last-ditch bid to prevent the now-vacant Aviva building near Leadenhall Market being redeveloped into a new 73-story skyscraper.

The insurance market’s Bruce Carnegie-Brown has written to City of London officials warning that the skyscraper – known as 1 Undershaft – would “rob the City of a really important convening space,” according to reports in the FT.

1 Undershaft would top out at 304m, just six metres shy of the size of The Shard, and is designed by Eric Parry architects.

The new tower would take over much of the footprint of St Helen’s Square, the plaza which sits in between the modernist former home of Aviva, the Lloyd’s Building, and Aon, Brit and MS Amlin’s home in the Cheesegrater – otherwise known as 122 Leadenhall.

City of London officials have previously approved a design for the area but developers have re-submitted plans with a new design, more height, and an 11th-floor public garden.

Others objections to the redesign have come from architecture fans who argue the St Helen’s skyscraper – a sleek, black, modernist design reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building in New York – should be allowed to stand.

Aviva moved out last year to a new space on Fenchurch Street.

A vote on the new design will occur later today.

Mark Kleinman: Melrose 2.0 may shine more than Shein

Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and is the man who gets the City talking in his weekly City A.M. column. This week, Kleinman tackles Rosebank Industries aka Melrose 2.0, Heathrow Airport drama, and the ownership saga around Everton

Melrose 2.0 may shine more than Shein

0.1 per cent: that’s the likely valuation of Rosebank Industries – aka Melrose 2.0 – relative to the Chinese-founded online fashion retailer Shein if and when both make their London stock market debuts in the coming months.

With an initial seed capitalisation of about £50m, Rosebank is the new vehicle of Simon Peckham, one of Melrose’s co-founders. He has assembled a team from his former company with over a century of experience between them, and now intends to reprise the ‘Buy, Improve, Sell’ playbook which made its investors handsome returns over two decades.

Yet while political and media attention focuses on when Shein will push the button on a UK listing, Rosebank’s listing may be disproportionately significant in what it says about the recovery story for London’s flagging stock market.

According to insiders, Peckham and co have for months been discussing a privately owned version of the vehicle which would secure substantial capital commitments from one or two deep-pocketed private equity firms.

Sources tell me that the decision to pursue a public capital raise instead reflects a judgement about institutional investors’ willingness to finance another listed company from the team which made Melrose so successful.

An investor presentation I’ve seen unsurprisingly makes hay with that track record: Elster, which generated a 33 per cent internal rate of return, and Dynacast, for which the comparable figure was 30 per cent.

Overall, Melrose made an average 2.5x return on equity across all of the businesses it sold since its 2003 flotation, and generated a total shareholder return of nearly 3,400 per cent.

Past performance, of course, offers few assurances about the future, but Peckham has sounded bullish during recent interviews about the opportunity to work alongside management teams of target companies, rather than simply replacing them, as was the pattern at Melrose.

That should present an easier door-opening tactic for Rosebank’s pipeline of prospective acquisitions.

The presentation also makes clear that Peckham will deploy the same approach to remuneration that made his previous venture such a perennial talking point in the City.

Low salaries and below-average bonuses tied to a long-term incentive structure which has the potential for bumper rewards, with ‘real’ industrial assets listed in London – it’s a familiar, and welcome, story.

Heathrow drama taxing towards the runway

Talk about a terminal situation. After months of negotiations, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Ardian, the private equity firm, have struck a £3.3bn deal to buy a stake of nearly 40 per cent in London’s Heathrow Airport.

Announced late last week, it addresses the tag-along demands of investors excluded from the original deal unveiled late last year.

While the delay will have been frustrating for the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Ardian, it eventually landed at an appetisingly reduced valuation of £8.7bn. Based on rising passenger numbers and earnings, the price looks cheap.

Challenges remain, however. Recent remarks by the bosses of British Airways and Emirates highlight the rough deal many of Heathrow’s most prominent airline customers believe they are getting.

I suspect the advent of a new government will herald a fresh effort by those carriers, along with Virgin Atlantic, to call for a further overhaul of the airport’s ownership structure

Previous attempts, and international comparisons, imply their focus will be on breaking up Heathrow’s monopoly ownership of its five terminals. Expect this to be the biggest aviation battleground – and lobbying blitz – under a new government.

Watchdog won’t solve sticky Toffee drama

It looks like a case study ready-made for a new football regulator. As the ownership saga surrounding Everton, the Premier League side which has made a habit of late escapes from relegation in the last few years, enters its next chapter, the prospect of a famous club starting another top-flight season in limbo escalates.

The Toffees’ nickname is apt, given that resolving the financial mess enveloping the club has been akin to wading through treacle.

Farhad Moshiri, the long-standing owner, has pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into Everton since buying it in, but will see little in return.

Creditors including Rights and Media Funding, MSP Capital and local businessmen and lifelong Evertonians including Andy Bell, the AJ Bell founder, are owed nine-figure sums, some of which are secured against the club’s new stadium at Bramley Dock.

A solution may be in sight after myriad false starts: step forward, Dan Friedkin, the owner of AS Roma, who has now been granted a period of exclusivity.

Much of the responsibility for the mess lies with 777 Partners, which signed a deal with Moshiri to buy Everton last year and has since turned obfuscation into an art form.

The Premier League appears to have had no definitive reason to block the transaction despite a complete absence of visibility over 777’s funding and deep misgivings about financing troubles elsewhere in its sporting and insurance affiliates.

Ultimately, the conditions imposed on 777 by the Premier League – which included a deadline to repay outstanding loans and to deposit funds into an escrow account for use by the club – put paid to the deal.

If a new regulator is to have real teeth (and thereby justify its existence), it will require greater powers to intervene in takeover situations like the Everton one.

Square Mile and Me – Conservative City candidate Tim Barnes: ‘I live here, so I understand the everyday problems’

Ahead of the the election, we’re asking the candidates for the Cities of London and Westminster to introduce themselves. Today, Conservative candidate and Centre for Entrepreneurs CEO Timothy Barnes gives his pitch to the Square Mile

What was your first job? 

As a teenager, I did quite a lot of things that might have felt like work, but were probably volunteering! My first paid job was when I was 18 and I spent a couple of months doing graphic design and layout for a small charity that trained and supported community volunteers across Cambridge. It was my first experience of the daily routine of heading into an office and helped me understand that I would always like work that has a creative element involved.

When did you decide to try your hand at politics and what were you doing before?

 I ran successfully to be the finance and societies officer for the student union at UCL, where I had been studying, and led to me taking a year out after university. I first ran to become a councillor over fifteen years ago and have always combined politics with having a day job. For the last two years, I have been the CEO of a charity based on the borders of the City. We promote entrepreneurship and help push policies that make it easier for those who want to help themselves to get going. Before that I have worked in universities, management consultancy, venture capital and set up my own businesses.

What’s one thing you love about the City of London? 

The Dragon boundary markers! Also, so many of the interesting and quirky old venues. I was saddened by the closure of Simpson’s Tavern and it would be great to see it revived as the site is still unoccupied and just falling into abandonment. The coverage in City A.M. has really saddened me. One of the wonderful things about the City are the little pockets of heritage among the daily bustle. If we lose those, things will just be a little too bland. Am still sad about the closure of the Wig and Pen, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, as much for the idea of the place as anything.

And one thing you would change? 

One of the first meetings I had after I was selected as a candidate for the election was with some of the Aldermen and women in the City to understand its needs and issues. I would like to see more outreach and support for the residents who live here. The Corporation has done a huge amount to improve the liveability of the City in recent years, but there’s more that can be done for those who reside here permanently in terms of housing and having access to a ladder of opportunity, which are two of the six core themes of my campaign. 

Why should people vote for you?

I want to see the City flourish as a financial and service centre and as a place to live. My background in entrepreneurship policy and teaching at universities including UCL and Cambridge underline my belief in the value of business and wealth creation and I would like to see the regulatory frameworks adapted to reflect UK capital and market needs. The Mansion House reforms were a good starting point but we need to see more to attract new listings and deeper pools of capital. Residents should know I am the only candidate of any major party who lives in the constituency, so the services I use and the problems I experience everyday are the same as theirs. 

What’s been your most memorable moment of your political career? 

Four years ago, I led the development of a new class of business rates relief that applied to grassroots music venues, a first in the UK that’s since been copied. We launched it at the 100 Club on Oxford Street and it was reported in the NME complete with a photo of me on stage. Making it into the hallowed pages of the NME has to be one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of my political life to date!

And any political faux pas?  

Am really not sure I have one, but if I do I am absolutely not going to bring up again! 

What’s been your proudest moment?

 As a councillor during Covid, it was the work we did to support residents and businesses at an unprecedented time of disruption. Individuals who had never had to turn to the council for help before came to see what we could and how to navigate things. As the cabinet member for young people and learning, we brought in the first scheme in the country to buy digital devices for the children who needed to learn from home during the pandemic, to ensure those from less affluent families didn’t fall behind those with easy access to laptops and tablets.

And who do you look up to?

In politics, Ken Clarke. He was a real influence on me in my formative years as I was working through my own beliefs and attitudes to politics. I don’t agree with everything he said or did, but his capacity to find the things that mattered and bring about change in what he did, his reputation as a heavy weight with a bit of personality thrown in, left his mark. My mum is a bit of a hero, too, but that’s probably not quite the original insight you are hoping for!

Are you optimistic for the year ahead?

Inflation is coming down and I think the Bank of England will cut rates in the second half of the year, so it should be a year of things getting better. England should do well in the T20 Cricket World Cup, too, and that would make me smile. But I might need you to ask me my thoughts on the rest of the year after 4 July! If Labour wins the election, taxes and inflation may well be back up by Christmas. 

What does a typical day in your life look like? 

Days vary a lot, to be honest. Mondays tend to start early as I have a lot of team and board calls first thing to get ready for, so that’s a 5.30am start or so. If there’s been a late work night the night before, I try and sleep a bit extra. Two or three days each week, I walk from home through Leicester Square and Covent Garden to my day job office on the Strand. Work is usually a mixture of team meetings and calls through the day with a nip out to one of the sandwich shops at lunchtime. Evenings are always work or political events with at least five a week, and sometimes two or three on an evening! Right now, that’s getting in the way of eating in the evenings, which is my main form of regular relaxation, whether I am going out or cooking it. The evenings are for social media and messaging catch ups and bed by midnight before it all rolls around again!

We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going?

So many places I could recommend or feel like. Eating and drinking out is one of the reasons I love living and working here. There’s a bit of me that would love to be a restaurant critic or even opening one of my own. 

There are a lot of chains now in the City, so perhaps we should head out for somewhere that will have something for every palette but still feels a little bit more like a one-off? How about Cabotte on Gresham Street? Classic French cooking and a glass of wine if you don’t have anything too important to do in the afternoon? If you want something a little less formal, I am quite a fan of a good food truck, so perhaps we could wander and see what comes up?

And if we’re grabbing a drink after work?

There’s always a buzz standing outside of the New Moon in Leadenhall Market.

Where’s home during the week?

 I live in Soho, which also means I can walk to work!

And where might we find you at the weekend?

Here! You don’t live in the West End to disappear from the city at weekends – it’s so you can walk home after a night out whether that’s eating, drinking, film, theatre or cultural life!

You’ve got two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?  

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have travelled to some pretty far off places across Africa and Asia – next time I am hoping that will be somewhere in West Africa. I like to alternate between those adventures and somewhere more relaxing and try as I might to be original, the answer is Italy: the weather, the food, the people, the history and the views – it really is the complete package.

Quickfire: 

To Sir George Iacobescu, who left his indelible mark on London

Should you find yourself in the company of London-inclined urban studies professors – a more enjoyable crowd than you might think – a fun parlour game is to try and name those who’ve made their mark on the modern capital.

Ken Livingstone is on the list; so are architects Richard Rogers and Norman Foster.

Claudia Jones gave us Carnival, and Hannah Dadds changed the face of TfL. Nobody, however, can compete with the claims of Sir George Iacobescu.

Success has many fathers and failure has few. Iacobescu, at Canary Wharf since 1988, has been there for the good times and the bad.

And throughout it he, like the hundreds then thousands then tens of thousands who roll in every day, has remained an ardent believer in what is surely the most successful property development in the world. 

 Today Canary Wharf is a mixed-use, thriving development that is becoming ever more a part of the capital’s fabric. You can kayak amongst the skyscrapers, nip to the shopping mall for homewares.

More than ever, despite the pandemic doomsayers, Canary Wharf has become a place of life and vibrancy. Iacobescu’s vision has been the driving force behind that all.

It is hard to imagine a better leadership dream team than Shobi Khan, Canary Wharf Group’s CEO, and Sir Nigel Wilson. The first is an innovative thinker, a clear communicator and hugely bright.

So is Sir Nigel, who became the voice and indeed the conscience of the City’s C-suite in his time at L&G. 

The Wharf was a gamble when Iacobescu first laid eyes on it in 1988. Now it seems a safe bet.

End of an era: The man behind Canary Wharf’s rise to step away after 36 years

Sir George Iacobescu – who has been a driving force behind Canary Wharf since its inception – will step down as chairman of the board of directors, it was announced today, to be replaced by City grandee Sir Nigel Wilson.

Iacobescu took his first job at the Wharf in 1988 for then-developer Olympia & York, becoming construction director and then CEO of the new Canary Wharf Group in 1997. He held that job until 2019, handing over the reins to Shobi Khan.

He will hand over the chairmanship to Sir Nigel Wilson, who recently stepped away from the CEO’s job at Legal & General, where he became known as the voice and indeed conscience of the City of London’s C-suite.

Sir George Iacobescu said: “It has been the honour and the challenge of a lifetime to have worked with an extraordinary group of people transforming a derelict dock into a thriving mixed-use city district. CWG is the first company on the planet to have built an entirely new central business district from scratch.

“Today, Canary Wharf is home to thousands of residents, businesses large and small across many sectors, one of the U.K.’s busiest shopping centres as well as parks, gardens, shops, restaurants and bars. It is a thriving community in the heart of the old East End.”

The Wharf’s rise from nothingness to a thriving hub – now including residential and life sciences plays in addition to financial services – is used as an example of urban development the world over.

Iacobescu has also overseen the work of joint ventures including 20 Fenchurch Street – better known as the Walkie Talkie – and was knighted for services to charity in 2011.

Sir Nigel Wilson said: “For over three decades, Sir George’s visionary leadership, design prowess, and engineering acumen have transformed Canary Wharf into a mini-city that competes on a global stage.

“I have had the privilege of observing his contribution as a force for progressive change for the
UK economy, generating jobs, supporting construction firms and bolstering the wider business
community. I am honoured to be stepping into his role as Chair.

“Canary Wharf is becoming a city within a city with approximately 20 million square feet of
vibrant space across offices, housing, retail and leisure. Its great transport links are driving
record footfall numbers with over 67.2 million visitors last year. I am excited about the
opportunity to leverage my experience to support its growth strategy and to collaborate with
Shobi Khan, Chief Executive, and his dynamic management team.”

Industry welcomes Labour plans to win over first-time buyers with housing reforms

Within its 125-page manifesto, Keir Starmer said he would work with local authorities to give first-time buyers first dibs on homes and limit developments being sold off to international investors. 

The wannabe Prime Minister also vowed to “introduce a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme, to support first-time buyers who struggle to save for a large deposit, with lower mortgage costs”. 

It follows a torrid time for would-be-buyers as they remain stuck in the rental market because of wage stagnation and economic turmoil which has impacted mortgage rates. 

Labour, which is currently leading the polls, previously promised to reform planning rules to build 1.5m more homes over the next Parliament, a major selling point amid Britain’s housing crisis. 

Starmer reaffirmed this promise today and vowed to “get Britain building again”. 

The manifesto read: “The dream of homeownership is now out of reach for too many young people. The Conservatives have failed to act even though the housing crisis is well known to be one of the country’s biggest barriers to growth.”

‘Labour victory to lead to significant increase in housing supply’

Labour’s housing shake up has been generally well received amongst property big wigs. 

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation said: “Labour is right to focus on improving the planning system as the key enabler of growth. 

“Introducing effective strategic planning means that decisions are made at the appropriate national or regional level, rather than just locally, which will allow us to deliver more homes against a clear target and also provide the logistics infrastructure and business spaces we need to support sustainable communities.

She added: “Measures to ensure up-to-date local plans are in place and a new approach to ‘grey belt’ land are also welcome, as is the commitment to more local authority planners so that existing projects can be unblocked, and local authorities are better able to engage with our sector to provide for future needs.”

Starmer also promised to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, pressing ahead with the Renters Reform Bill. 

Antony Codling, managing director at RBC Captial Market, said a  Labour victory is “likely to lead to a significant increase in housing supply over the coming five years.”

“A rising tide of housing supply that we think will also lift the share prices of the UK housebuilders,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have committed to building 1.6m homes over the next parliament. The pledge comes despite the party failing to deliver on their promise of delivering 300,000 homes annually in the last four years.