Welcome to Power Play, Politico's weekly podcast where I talk to some of the most influential voices on either side of the Atlantic.

I'm Anne McHellboy. If you haven't already, do take a moment to follow this podcast in 2025, so you don't miss an episode in a momentous year.

This week with me is Rupert Soames, chair of the Confederation of British Industry,

the UK's biggest business lobby group.

I've come to his sleek officers in the heart of the city of London, powerhouse of Britain's

economy.

But growth has been in the doldrums of late, and a major tax-raising budget

from the new Labour government has put many business leaders' noses out of joint. Meanwhile, Wall Street

is amped up for a Trump return to office. But what does that mean for the transatlantic business

relationship? Not a qualification for the job as such, but our listeners might like to know that Rupert is also the grandson of Winston Churchill.

So there's some leadership nose in the jeans there.

Rupert Soames, welcome to Power Play.

Good afternoon.

Happy New Year. Not such a cheerful one as far as many businesses here in the UK are concerned. We've had surveys this week suggesting confidence is a pretty low air, some say the lowest, since Liz Truss's brief stint as Prime Minister. What's your view then of the general outlook and that

mixture of price rises, job losses and the tough general business climate that Britain is

facing? So I think that business sentiment's been through something of a roller coaster.

I think there was a deal of optimism with the election of the Labor government last July.

There was the relief factor of having a government that had a good majority that was, you know,

outcome that could be stable, strong and stable government, as former

Prime Minister May would have referred to, and that the government had made huge efforts

and very successful efforts to convince businesses that it was on their side and understood

business and saw businesses the driver of growth.

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