What we need at the current time is certainty

There can be no doubting that the current General Election here in the United Kingdom is unlike any other we have witnessed in the past.

All the commentators and statisticians appear to be in agreement that the outcome is far too close to call and almost impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.

Added to that there has been an unprecedented shift in voting patterns with more people than ever before turning to the minority parties. It appears that the two major parties can no longer really on people’s votes at the ballot box.

The advent of the internet age means that voters are far better informed than at any time in the past and are less likely to be swayed by slick advertising and glossy party political broadcasts. Traditional party political loyalties are simply no longer as important as they once were.

As a result the politicians are being forced to fight for every single vote and there is still a huge question mark about who will be in charge of the country later this week.

But when it comes to business this level of certainty is not particularly welcome especially as the economy is still recovering from the financial crisis and the recession.

It doesn’t matter which party you support anyone who runs a company or a business will tell you that the last thing any of us want or need at the present time is any kind of uncertainty.

Of course as a business owner or senior manager you have to plan for every eventuality, it makes sense to be prepared for sudden changes in the market place or the economy.

The weaker businesses are the ones that tend to struggle when there is a sudden downturn in trading conditions or changes in consumer habits.

But it almost impossible to plan for factors which are outside your control and that includes an unstable and unpredictable political system.

In contrast to some of our neighbours and trading partners we have always had a relatively stable political system here in the UK. The reality is that the major political parties are not that far apart in terms of political and economic policies.

As a country we tend to prefer middle of the road politics and have generally steered clear of extreme political parties and views.

We have enjoyed political stability in this country for generations and that has certainly helped to make the UK’s economy one of the strongest in the world.

Financially we have recovered faster and stronger than most other countries and there is now no longer any doubt that we are well on the road to recovery.

In fact the worst outcome from this week’s election would be if there was no outcome.

The last thing we need at the moment is a country without a strong government or the disruption and expense of a second election before the end of the year.

In fact the best result for everyone would be one that sees a single party given a mandate to govern, in other words what we all need is a little bit of certainty.