'A huge disappointment' How business lost its faith in Labour

Last year Keir Starmer had an invitation for bosses at Labour's first party conference in power for 15 years: "You can have your fingerprints on our policy ... you can shape it.

- Richard Partington

Criticism from corporate Britain: Shevaun Haviland and Stuart Rose

Fresh from love-bombing corporate Britain before his election landslide, the prime minister told a sold-out "business day" audience at its Liverpool get-together that he wanted his new government to "partner" with industry.

"You have the right to badger us ... Our decisions will be better if we are talking to you and taking into account what you say," Starmer said.

As Labour returns to Merseyside this weekend for its annual gathering, many executives are asking: what happened? Talk of partnerships is a distant memory - after a year of tax increases, weak growth, rising inflation and climbing unemployment.

"Fifteen months in [from the election], it has been a serious disappointment," said Stuart Rose, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer. "There appears to be a vacuum, and a mismatch between what's being said and being done in terms of business engagement.

"You have a massive majority, a government saying it wants to stoke the economy, and says it knows how. But it seems to be paralysed.

"I thought this lot would be in for two terms, now I am not convinced. And the Conservatives are in such a hole. If things keep going we'll have a rightwing lunatic of our own, like Trump."

Repairing corporate relations is seen as a key priority within Labour ranks after a rocky year. Rachel Reeves's autumn budget will loom large, amid mounting speculation over tax rises. So too will the figure of Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, widely seen as a challenger to Starmer.

With the chancellor and the prime minister expected to roll the pitch for the 26 November budget, bosses in Liverpool will be on high alert for any hint of how Reeves will tackle a potential £40bn shortfall in the public finances. Global bond market investors will also be watching closely.