Tory MPs jostle for finance jobs after Sunak calls election

By Justin Cash

Conservative politicians are strengthening their ties to City firms, priming for potential job opportunities that could open up after the general election as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reveals the date of the contest.

The vote will be held on July 4, Sunak announced Wednesday.

Sunak said inflation had come "back to normal", the Conservatives have controlled debt, seized the opportunities of Brexit and cut taxes on investment.

"The question now is how and who do you trust to turn that into a secure future?" Sunak said.

But with the Labour Party some 20 points ahead in the polls, sitting Tory MPs are keeping an eye on their future in case the party is wiped out in the upcoming vote, as expected.

"It's going on all over the place," a City lobbyist told Financial News. "It's over, done, kaput and they know it."

"There are a lot of Conservative parliamentary staffers currently trying to line up jobs for themselves," said a public affairs professional.

Sunak previously suggested the election would be "in the second half of this year", and lawmakers in his party appeared to be positioning for post-election finance roles before that happened.

"The problem is a lot of them are white middle-aged men so they're not exactly in demand," says a leading City lawyer.

Sunak has built close ties with Blackstone (BX) founder Stephen Schwarzman, quipping "Where's my office?" as the alternatives giant broke ground for its new London-based European headquarters in February, the Financial Times reported last month.

Another former chancellor, Lord Philip Hammond, is chair of crypto custodian Copper, while former education secretary Gavin Williamson and former home secretary Amber Rudd have joined the boards of payments firm Lanistar and Dublin-listed airline Ryanair (IE:RYA)respectively.

According to research by Financial News's sister title Private Equity News, at least 10 Conservative politicians have worked for buyout shops including EQT (SE:EQT), Appian and LetterOne in recent months, raking in tens of thousands of pounds for political advice, dinner appearances, speeches and more.

This story originally appeared on FNLondon.com

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-23-24 0506ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.