How the 2015 General Election is going to affect the Construction Sector

On Thursday 7th May the UK is set to decide on which political body is going to be in charge of Parliament. How it works is each parliamentary constituency of the UK elects one MP to the House of Commons using the ‘first past the post’ system. If one party obtains the majority of the 650 seats, then that party is entitled to form and rule the British Government. However, as we saw in the previous election, if the results show no single party as having a majority, then there is a hung parliament which can result in forming a coalition. The main question on people’s minds is who to vote for? If you’ve been following closely on the news you would see that the main parties in contest for the seats include the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green Party; each with their own manifesto and policies they want to implement within the next 5 years. However, there are so many policies and promises it’s hard to see what is going to make the biggest impact to your life so that’s why we think it’s important to consider your working industry when voting – in our case Construction. The construction sector is one of the largest sectors of the economy, contributing almost £90 billion to the UK economy. This comprises over 280,000 businesses, covering some 2.93 million jobs; this is equivalent to about 10% of total UK employment. Based on this fact, it’s important that construction is considered in the politicians’ manifestos as we don’t want a repeat of the 2008 recession. Recently a study by rental solution provider, Hewden, found that a record 1.8 million construction sector workers (87% of the industry) intend of vote in this week’s General Election. However, despite the significant interest, more than half (53%) say they are unclear on the different policies being proposed. To help you better understand these policies the people at Glenigan have provided the following information from the main parties to help you become clearer on what may drastically affect the construction sector. The infographic above was created by Glenigan as part of its Impact on Construction report. For a full copy of the research click here Glenigan is the trusted provider of UK construction project data, market analysis and company intelligence. Find out more by following them on Twitter @Glenigan By looking at the policies it is clear to see that two key construction themes are the main focus of this year’s election: house building and skills. With majority of the main parties highlighting these in their manifestos. Based on this, UK Construction week carried out a survey in March/April, questioning more than 1,000 product manufacturers, contractors, architects, house builders, developers and suppliers from the construction industry asking for their thoughts on the policies. It’s surprising to see that out of the majority of those asked, 71% felt that the interests of the industry had not been fully addressed by the election campaigns, with only 29% feeling that construction received adequate attention. This also included ourselves. However based on this survey and also the policies previously mentioned it is clear to see that the Conservatives demonstrated a clear lead with 54% of those questioned feeling that the Tories would be the best for the industry if they continued in power. Following this the results place Labour behind at 30%, whilst the Green Party (6%) has pushed ahead of the Liberal Democrats with 4%. UKIP managed to claim 4% of the vote, with SNP and Plaid Cymru jointly achieving 2%. Overall it is clear to see that there are a lot of unanswered policy issues that the main parties haven’t addressed this general election which is a shame as construction has been the main driver behind the UK’s economic recovery, but despite this it’s good to see that housing and construction skills are being taken more into consideration. Looking for your own inspirational office space after the general election then contact us today on 0333 600 1234 to discuss your office design, refurbishment and fit out plans.

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