The chief executive of Iceland Richard Walker has stopped funding to the Conservative Party and has switched to Labour saying they are the “right choice” for businesses.
Walker who is a former Tory donor accused the Tories of having “failed the nation” which will be a huge blow for the Prime Minister.
Writing in the Guardian Walker said, “Labour is the right choice for the communities across the country where Iceland operates – and the right choice for everyone in business who wants to see this country grow and prosper.”
He told BBC Breakfast, “I think they have steadily changed and certainly when I was trying to become a candidate, I was told to pipe down on issues that really matter to me, like the alarming rise of food banks, by very senior people within the party.”
He added: “I think the Conservatives have failed the nation. They’ve drifted badly out of touch with people like my customers and they’re drifting further and further to the right.
“What’s interesting is that my values and principles haven’t changed, and, whilst the Conservatives have moved away from me, Labour has steadily moved towards the centrist pragmatic views that I’ve long held.”
Walker said that the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, “demonstrates a compassion and concern for the less fortunate that contrasts very favourably with the attitude of most of his opponents”.
“He absolutely gets it when I talk to him about the way that the cost-of-living crisis has put unbearable strain on the finances of so many of my customers and their families, and the urgent need for a government that does everything in its power to ease their burden.”
The Labour leader said, “The work that he and his colleagues at Iceland have done to help customers through the cost-of-living crisis has been commendable.
“With Labour, shoppers and shop workers will get a fair deal. We’ll tackle the cost-of-living crisis, get Britain’s economy growing again and get our country’s future back.”
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