The
FTSE
100
opened
slightly
higher
this
morning
as
Rishi
Sunak
returned
to
Downing
Street
following
a
bruising
defeat
in
the
general
election
last
night.

With
just
five
constituency
seats
left
to
declare
results
and
Keir
Starmer
poised
to
visit
the
King
to
form
a
government,
London’s
blue-chip
index
was
up
0.19%,
in
what
appeared
to
be
the
start
of
an
upbeat
end
to
the
week’s
trading.

Sterling
was
also
up
0.1%
against
the
dollar
to
$1.278,
and
up
against
the
Euro
at
€1.180.

Overall,
the
current
numbers
stand
at
411
seats
for
the
Labour
Party,
119
for
The
Conservative
Party,
63
for
the
Liberal
Democrats,
38
for
the
Scottish
National
Party,
and
four
for
the
Reform
Party.

“Following
Labour’s
victory
in
the
UK
election,
the
focus
now
shifts
to
the
party’s
immediate
fiscal
agenda,”
says
Rachael
Griffin,
tax
and
financial
planning
expert
at
Quilter,
in
a
note.

“The
prevailing
sentiment
from
Labour’s
campaign
was
one
of
moderation

the
ethos
was
‘expect
the
expected.’
Labour
pledged
not
to
raise
the
primary
revenue-generating
taxes

namely
income
tax,
VAT,
national
insurance,
and
corporation
tax.

“But
with
a
mandate
for
change,
the
new
government
is
well-positioned
to
implement
significant
reforms.
The
projected
revenues
from
Labour’s
proposed
measures
(such
as
VAT
on
private
school
fees,
removal
of
non-domicile
status
and
windfall
taxes)
have
been
deemed
by
the
Institute
For
Fiscal
Studies
as
‘insignificant
to
negligible.’

“This
has
led
to
speculation
about
how
the
Labour
government
plans
to
finance
the
anticipated
upsurge
in
public
expenditure,
without
resorting
to
further
tax
hikes
or
exceeding
the
borrowing
limits
set
by
the
fiscal
rules
that
Rachel
Reeves
has
committed
the
party
to.”

Among
the
major
upsets
across
the
night’s
results
was
the
unseating
of
former
prime
minister
Liz
Truss
in
Norfolk
South
West,
less
than
two
years
since
her
radical
proposals
to
cut
tax
in
the
so-called
mini-Budget

sent
the
gilt
markets
into
disarray

and
caused
serious
problems
for

pension
funds
that
were
leveraged
using
liability-driven
investments
.

Other
Conservative
candidates
given
their
marching
orders
also
included
de
facto
financial
services
minister
Bim
Afolami
in
Hitchin,
defence
secretary
Grant
Schapps
in
Welwyn
Hatfield,
and
Jacob
Rees-Mogg
in
North
East
Somerset
&
Hanham.
Penny
Mordaunt
also
lost
her
Portsmouth
North
seat,
while
education
secretary
Gillian
Keegan
was
defeated
in
Chichester
by
the
Liberal
Democrats.

Soon-to-be-former
chancellor
Jeremy
Hunt
did
hold
on
to
his
seat
in
Godalming
&
Ash,
though
there
was
a
-10.8%
swing
away
from
the
Conservative
Party
in
the
constituency.
Hunt’s
majority
now
stands
at
a
measly
891,
rendering
his
political
career
in
the
House
of
Commons
vulnerable
to
further
upset.

The
outgoing
prime
minister
Rishi
Sunak,
former
Conservative
Party
leader
Iain
Duncan
Smith,
and
Esther
McVey
also
survived
the
vote
to
return
to
their
seats
in
Chingford
&
Woodford
Green,
Tatton,
and
Richmond
&
Northallerton,
respectively.
Home
secretary
James
Cleverly
also
held
on
in
Braintree
with
a
majority
of
less
than
3,000.

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