Danielle Dunfield-Prayero: Conservatives understand that growth comes not from the state down, but from the ground up

Danielle Dunfield-Prayero is Chair of the Conservatives For Business network and is part of the team reviewing the Party’s election loss. She was the Conservative Party’s candidate for Wimbledon in 2024.  

For much of post-war Europe, centre-right parties dominated the political landscape, from Germany’s Christian Democrats to the British Conservatives. But times have changed; in today’s increasingly crowded and fragmented field, these parties must define both what they stand for and with whom they stand to remain competitive.

That old Westminster adage that “Oppositions don’t win elections; governments lose them” rang painfully true in July 2024. I should know: I fought a strong, community-led campaign in Wimbledon – and still lost. Voters weren’t after a conversation; they wanted change. For many, as we saw across much of the South and South West, that even meant turning to the Liberal Democrats.

After 14 years in power, the Conservative Party lost the trust of too many – including traditional allies in the armed forces, farming communities, and business.

It’s this last group I want to focus on: the 5.5 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that make up over 99 per cent of Britain’s private sector. These entrepreneurs should be our natural allies. Instead, many looked to Labour for a fresh start – and are now learning that “change” is not a strategy, let alone a growth plan.

In just a year, Labour has made it clear it neither understands nor values the private sector. Its so-called growth plan is a tax-and-spend raid, targeting the very people who create jobs, innovate, and invest. SMEs aren’t being supported, they’re being milked like cash cows.

Labour’s economic approach is a doom loop: tax more, shrink the economy, lose jobs, borrow more, repeat. This isn’t “securonomics.” As Robert Colvile put it, it’s insecuronomics – policies that leave jobs, investment, and growth less secure with every passing quarter.

The data tells its own story. Inflation remains stubborn; unemployment is at a four-year high; the economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in April; national debt keeps rising; borrowing costs are creeping up – stifling investment, pushing up mortgage payments, and undermining long-term confidence. So much for those promised green shoots.

Then there’s the £25 billion hike in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs). The consequences have been brutal: 276,000 jobs lost from the payroll since the Autumn Budget – including 109,000 in May alone, the worst monthly drop since the pandemic. UK Hospitality’s Kate Nicholls said it best: “We were clear at the time that the changes to NICs were a tax on jobs, and so it is sadly proving.”

This isn’t theoretical. These are real people losing real jobs. Families without pay packets. Communities in decline. A low-trust society being quietly, steadily fuelled.

Meanwhile, business costs continue to rise, from sky-high energy bills to the creeping red tape of Labour’s reworked (Un)Employment Rights Bill. This government is strangling enterprise at every turn.

They’re not even pretending to listen. Earlier this month, Sir Gavin Williamson MP led a debate on changes to business rate relief. It was a chance to hear about those on the front line, but not a single Labour MP, beyond the minister and his PPS, bothered to attend. If they won’t show up, how can they lead?

Business is fighting back. Employers are speaking out against rising taxes, incoherent strategies, and Labour’s silence on skills, tech, and productivity. There’s no plan, just slogans and spending.

Sir James Dyson didn’t mince his words: Labour is “killing off aspiration”. He cited VAT on private school fees (the Education Tax), employer NICs (the Jobs Tax), and the 20 per cent inheritance tax on family farms (the Family Farm Tax). Writing in the Sun, he warned: “[The] Chancellor will learn this to her cost… as wealth creators leave and businesses stop hiring and investing.”

He’s right, and many are already voting with their feet. Labour’s polling collapse, from the high 30s in July 2024 to the low 20s today, is the sharpest first-year fall for any government in modern UK history.

If Labour stays this course, we are heading straight into stagflation: high inflation, weak growth, and rising joblessness. The worst of all worlds, entirely of their own making.

Here’s the good news: while Labour doubles down on bad ideas, Conservatives are turning a page.

Kemi Badenoch’s recent speech at the Peel Hunt 250 conference was a reset moment. She laid out a bold, pro-enterprise agenda: responsible tax cuts, real deregulation, and a clear recognition that the 28 million people in the private sector support the other 28 million who don’t. Her message was simple and true: growth comes from the ground up – not from the state down.

Conservatives have lived this. Mel Stride built his business from scratch. Andrew Griffith played a key role in transforming Sky into a household name. They, like every entrepreneur, understand you can’t tax your way to prosperity.

Labour and Reform may look like opposites, but they’re two sides of the same big-government coin: borrow more, promise more, and leave the bill for the next generation. That’s not conservative – and it’s not sustainable.

As for the Liberal Democrats? They say one thing in the South, another in the North. Good luck working out what they believe.

At Conservatives For Business, we’re not just criticising – we’re building the alternative. A movement led by business, for business. Focused on SMEs. Grounded in real-world experience. Driven by the belief that Britain can, and must, be the best place to start, scale, and succeed.

We’re rebuilding trust. Restoring credibility. Getting ready to win again. If you believe in enterprise, aspiration, and growth – join us.