Bosses tell voters to back the Tories

PROMINENT City figures have urged voters to elect the Conservative Party in next week's General Election. In a letter to the Financial Times a cross-section of 67 business leaders including Sir Christopher Gent and Sir Anthony Bamford slammed the Government for over-regulation and claimed the Tories would slash more red tape.

'Talk is fine,' the letter read. 'But as all businessmen and women know, it is action that counts. That is why, in our private capacities, we support the election of a Conservative Government.'

It echoed a previous letter to the newspaper from 63 Labour supporters. But the Tory signatories are more heavyweight than those on the Labour letter. Most are avowed Conservative supporters and many are recent donors.

They include GlaxoSmithKline chairman Gent, who has recently given the Tories more than £35,000 and sits on the board of right-leaning think-tank Reform.

Bamford, chairman of engineer JCB, reportedly contributed around £1m to Michael Howard's election war chest. Despite this, he recently lent his Caribbean mansion to Tony and Cherie Blair for their holiday. Other donors on the list include insurance entrepreneur Sir Mark Weinberg and supermarkets luminary Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover.

Most of the others have connections to the Conservatives. Former Tesco chairman Lord MacLaurin worked with them on an anti-red tape taskforce and Patrick Minford used to be a Tory adviser.