Iceland executive chairman Richard Walker has vowed to “bring high street realism to Westminster” as the supermarket gears up to launch its first-ever customer ‘manifesto’ ahead of the general election on 4 July.
The ‘manifesto’, which will be delivered to all political parties later this month, comes after the frozen food retailer’s latest customer listening survey found that more than two thirds (67%) of people don’t feel represented by any major political party.
Among the more than 2,800 customers who took part in the survey, 93% said they had suffered with cost-of-living rises in the past 12 months and 65% said the current government and business leaders are not doing enough to rectify issues.
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Iceland added that this could be the “most-influential” pre-election period in decades with a third (32%) of people having openly said they are still undecided on who they will vote for in the upcoming general election.
Walker said: “We’re 23 days away from what is expected to be a historical election that will shake up Westminster – but it means little to the real people of Britain if they don’t feel represented by any of the major political parties.
“I’ve listened to our customers and colleagues up and down the country on the issues that matter most to them – cost-of-living, access to public services and overall dissatisfaction with government and business leaders.
“Our manifesto is about making sure they feel heard in all of the noise generated by this general election.”
It comes as Iceland founder Malcolm Walker is among more than 100 business leaders who have signed a letter backing the Labour party’s economic plans.
While Malcolm Walker had previously been among 100 corporate leaders who had endorsed the Conservatives ahead of the 2015 election, he is now backing Labour.
Last October, Richard Walker resigned from the Conservative party as he accused it of becoming out of touch with business.
