Big business back at Labour conference with biggest showing since 2010

theguardian.com:

Labour has attracted a surge of interest from big business at its conference in Liverpool with the biggest attendance of companies since 2010, including a firm owned by a major Tory donor.

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves were among the senior politicians to speak at a packed reception of more than 600 business leaders, executives and international guests on Monday night.

Labour sources said there had been a significant increase in business interest in its conference as the party continues to perform well in the polls, with bookmakers putting Starmer odds-on to win the next election.

One of the companies to showcase its wares at the conference is Wrightbus, owned by Tory donor Jo Bamford, with the firm exhibiting a hydrogen bus at both Labour and Conservative events this year.

Others with stalls in the main exhibition hall include Sainsbury’s, Google, Lloyds Banking, and E.ON, the energy giant, while people were queuing out of the door to get into a business reception. Labour’s business forum – where companies pay for access to events attended by shadow ministers and officials – was sold out in July with more than 90 companies in attendance and ended up oversubscribed by two to one.

Starmer, Reeves, the shadow chancellor; Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary; and David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, all spoke at the reception for businesses, ambassadors and international visitors, which was sponsored by Bloomberg.

A senior Labour source said there had been a huge increase in engagement from businesses this year. “They are genuinely encouraged to see a sensible, functioning opposition party. The vast majority aren’t party political – there is just a sense of relief that there are some grown-ups in the room,” the