Millions of self-employed voters plan to make their final decision on who they will support on polling day, according to a quick general election survey conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses.
The survey found that 96% of small business owners intend to vote, but one in five (20%) are still undecided about which party they will choose, and a further one in three (33%) are pretty sure they have a party to vote for but could still change their mind.
The FSB survey found that 90 percent of small business owners are concerned that business taxes may rise under the next administration, while 92 percent of small business employers are concerned that the costs and risks of employment may increase under the next administration.
More than half (53%) say they are concerned about energy costs for their small business over the next five years, and six in six (61%) are concerned about the rate of inflation over the next five years.
The findings come as the FSB publishes its manifesto for small businesses and the self-employed – a blueprint for whoever forms the next government – with the aim of boosting economic growth and increasing the small business community from 5.5 million to its pre-pandemic size of 6 million by the next Parliament.
Tina McKenzie, FSB policy chair, said: “Small business owners and the self-employed are some of the savvy and motivated voters out there. They're used to weighing competing offers when running their businesses and it's clear from our research that come election time they're looking to see which party has the most attractive small business support package.”
“Small business are key to securing economic recovery, driving innovation and creating jobs across the UK. Our Small Business Manifesto sets out the measures we need to create the conditions for this to happen, many of which involve no extra spending.”
“We expect all those seeking to form the next administration to demonstrate their commitment to the millions of hardworking constituents who run their own businesses, including through the Small Business Act, and to enact new laws to protect small businesses on important issues like late payments.”
Manifesto Proposal
The FSB’s manifesto for SMEs and the self-employed contains over 150 concrete proposals to be implemented during the next Parliamentary term, including:
Enacting the Small Business Act, we promise to help small businesses by:
- Put measures into law to crack down on large companies with poor payment practices towards smaller suppliers.
- Improve the financing ability of small and medium-sized enterprises, including by closing loopholes in protection for personal guarantors.
- Set a statutory public procurement target for SMEs at 33% and increase SME involvement in taxpayer-funded projects.
Providing peace of mind about taxes:
- We will fundamentally reform business taxes to support small businesses in all sectors.
- Eliminate dividend tax on limited company directors and increases to national insurance contributions for the self-employed.
- We will restore the small profits threshold for corporation tax to its previous level of £250,000 and commit to not increasing small profits tax rates.
Supporting small business employers, jobs and skills:
- Automatically increase employment benefits in line with the National Living Wage.
- Maintain current co-investment rules to support small business apprenticeships.
- Reintroduce universal work experience into secondary schools.
Encouraging startups:
- We will increase the number of startup loans provided by 5,000.
- A new “start-up allowance” will be created for unemployed people who want to start their own businesses.
- It makes it easier for self-employed people to get mortgages and save for retirement.
Driving future growth:
- Introducing a new Small Housebuilders Strategy to ensure there is sufficient capacity to meet ambitious housebuilding targets.
- Set a target that at least half of direct government funding for private research and development (R&D) goes to small and medium-sized enterprises.
- When it comes to the energy market, it offers consumer-style protection to small businesses.