Zahawi speech may be policy light, but it can be substantial

On Tuesday evening of next week, the Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – no, we’re not quite used to it either – will take to the lectern at the Mansion House and deliver what is usually one of the most anticipated speeches of the year. This particular Mansion House speech had been marked in the calendar for some time as the night that Zahawi’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, would lay out plans for the City’s future relationship with the European Union and what reforms are on the table to make the capital a more appealing place to do business. 

It now seems inevitable that such details will not necessarily make their way into Zahawi’s speech. His place as Chancellor is not guaranteed beyond the next couple of months, and driving through some of the reforms many want would require a politician with total control of the often byzantine Treasury. He cannot be blamed for either of those. 

But what he can do is shrug off the nagging feeling that it wasn’t just Boris Johnson who didn’t care about the capital, but that the neglect shown towards London during his administration was a sign of the Tory party at large neither understanding nor caring for the economic and indeed cultural engine of the country. 

Zahawi is well placed to do so, as a businessman with many links inside the capital. He as much as Sunak and his predecessor before him Sajid Javid understands the value of financial services to the country. Friends of Zahawi have already said he wants to give the industry a confidence boost and, whilst the hard-headed financiers of London are not known for their need to be loved, it would be timely too for him to acknowledge publicly that none of the UK’s myriad problems can be solved without the Square Mile’s backing. 

Zahawi’s speech will no doubt be policy light, but that doesn’t mean it has to be without substance. If anything, a change in tone towards the sector that still pays the largest share of the bills would be very welcome indeed.