Stephen Marcos Jones, CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) said:

“For our members now is not a good time for yet more political uncertainty in Westminster. The conflict in Ukraine, spiralling inflation, as well as the erosion of political commitment with a raft of Ministers no longer in role – including the Construction Minister – has the potential to impact on business confidence, investment decisions, and delay our post-pandemic recovery.

“No matter who emerges as the new Conservative Party leader, and our Prime Minister, it is crucial that the process is completed as swiftly as possible to minimise disruption. This also applies to the next leader’s programme and we expect that key manifesto themes such as the road to Net Zero, as well as regional development and levelling up, remain priorities for any new Government.”