Just one in 20 British entrepreneurs believe Andy Burnham is a pro-business prime minister, according to new research from founder membership group Helm.
Helm, which represents over 400 scale-up founders with a combined revenue of £8bn, published the findings as part of its latest membership survey.
Only six per cent of respondents considered Burnham to be genuinely supportive of the private sector, a notably low figure for a PM who has publicly championed business growth.
Around 83 per cent of those surveyed said they expected business conditions to either stay the same or worsen under the new administration.
Just under half of the entrepreneurs polled expressed outright pessimism about what lay ahead for the business environment during Burnham’s premiership.
A separate survey of manufacturers published on Monday also showed that industry sentiment had fallen sharply, with widespread fears that further tax hikes could damage businesses.
Andreas Adamides, the chief executive of Helm, said the results pointed to a clear “trust deficit” despite Burnham’s announcement to cut business rates for pub landlords and “warm words” claiming he would be pro-business.
Adamides said: “He did not impose the tax rises of the last two years, but he owns them now. Reversing the employers’ national insurance rise in his first 100 days would be the clearest possible signal that this government understands who creates growth.”
He added: “What business leaders cannot afford is another summer of speculation about wealth taxes and exit charges, because uncertainty stops investment just as surely as tax does.”
During the Makerfield by-election campaign, Burnham hinted he would look to address the added business costs from Rachel Reeves’ national insurance hike, which damaged the jobs market and hit youth unemployment in particular.
That tax hike raised around £25bn more in government revenue every year, meaning any reversal would significantly deepen Chancellor John Healey’s funding challenges ahead of the late October Budget.
Healey is already heading into a difficult fiscal period after Burnham made a series of cost-of-living pledges designed to provide “breathing space” to both households and businesses.
The Chancellor also faces pressure to set out a credible path to raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP by 2030, at an estimated additional cost of around £9bn per year.
Healey resigned over the defence spending issue when Sir Keir Starmer was Prime Minister, making his position on the matter particularly politically sensitive within Cabinet discussions.
The energy price shock stemming from the Iran war has added further strain to the public finances, with the government projected to spend more than £110bn in debt interest costs in the current financial year alone.