Winning the trust of business is a major milestone in Starmer’s journey to No 10

Editorial: The election ‘pledge card’ has clear echoes with New Labour – but it is the endorsement of the CEOs of high-street brands, such as Boots, that will help seal the election for ‘changed Labour’

(Dave Brown)

Rumours swept Westminster in advance of Sir Keir Starmer’s event in Essex about another defector. Could it be Stephen Metcalfe, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, an unusually loyal Conservative backbencher? Or Dame Priti Patel, the MP for another Essex seat? Or Georgia Harrison, the Love Island star and women’s rights campaigner, who comes from Essex?

It was none of those – but Labour did win a surprise endorsement, delivered by video link, that was possibly more significant. Seb James, the managing director of Boots, appeared on a screen at the launch of Labour’s election pledge card, to praise Sir Keir’s emphasis on economic growth that will “put more money in people’s pockets”.

This is important symbolically, not least because James is an old friend of David Cameron’s (the pair were at Eton together and were fellow members of the Bullingdon Club at Oxford University). But it is also a defection of substance. Boots is a high-street brand that has to be careful about embroiling itself in politics. It speaks volumes about the steadiness, competence and respectability of Sir Keir and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, that the chief executive of such a well-known chain is happy to associate himself with them.

This is an endorsement that marks a momentous shift in the public mood, and an acceptance that we are likely to have a Labour government by the end of the year. James is not a lone maverick. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, endorsed Ms Reeves personally at the Labour Party’s annual conference last year. Richard Walker, the boss of Iceland and a former Tory backer with ambitions to be an MP, now supports Labour. Several former Conservative donors, including John Caudwell, the Phones4u founder, have either backed Labour or say that they are considering it.

If Sir Keir can get the computing giants of Silicon Valley on side, he will leave “tech bro” Rishi Sunak with nothing.

Much of the coverage of Sir Keir’s pledge card launch emphasised the similarities between the original produced by New Labour, and the new one produced by “changed Labour”. But the parallels are more extensive than a laminated aide memoire. Tony Blair benefited from support from the leaders of many big businesses, partly because they thought he had a constructive attitude towards engagement with the rest of the European Union – although Mr Blair was also able to charm people such as Rupert Murdoch, who disagreed with him about Europe.

It may be that some business leaders prefer Labour because they hope that a change of government might ease trade barriers with our European neighbours. But much of the tilt of business opinion in Sir Keir’s favour is down to the hard work that he and Ms Reeves have put into ditching foolish promises and accepting the need for stability.

Some Labour members may be unhappy with the pro-business orientation of their leaders, but it seems that most of the party understands, as it understood in 1997, that it cannot build anything worthwhile in government unless it does so on the firm foundations of a broad social consensus – which must include what used to be called “both sides of industry”, employers and employees.

Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have been given insufficient credit for their achievement in putting up as big a tent as the one erected by Blair. In Sir Keir’s case, Labour’s big tent is capable of accommodating Natalie Elphicke, the former Tory MP, and Sharon Graham, the uncompromising leader of Unite the union. Ms Elphicke endorsed Labour’s plan to deal with the small boats, while Ms Graham this week backed the party’s employment rights policies.

But the man from Boots the chemist is more important than either of them. If he says he believes Sir Keir and Ms Reeves when they promise to “deliver economic stability”, that carries some real authority. He cannot take risks with a brand as well-known as his. His endorsement could confirm a lot of people in their belief that voting Labour is not the risky choice.