General Election 2015: Conservative victory is about to give the pound its biggest boost in six years

After it became apparent that Cameron had won a majority on Friday, sterling went up by 1.9 per cent in value, as optimism over the UK's economic future strengthened. The FTSE 100 also surged by 2.3 per cent in post-election euphoria, which was it's biggest rise since January. 

 

Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described it as a “fabulous Friday for the UK stock market.”

 

Today, the upward trend has continued, with the pound going up by 1.3 per cent in afternoon trading    The last time such a two-day gain was made was at the beginning of 2009.

 

Cameron's victory was by no means expected, which is why markets reacted so positively to the news. Most polls placed the Conservatives only slightly ahead of Labour, and a hung parliament was expected to be announced, with no clear winner. 

 

The outcome made it clear that certain Labour policies deemed potentially damaging for businesses, such as energy price freezes and higher bank levies, would no longer go ahead. 

 

Nonetheless, there are still concerns over some aspects of the Conservative government, such as whether the UK will remain part of the EU – if it leaves following the referendum Cameron has promised, analysts believe it could deter foreign investment.