U.K. Equities Climb To All-Time Highs As Sunak Faces General Election Wipeout

By Marcus Weyerer, CFA, Senior ETF Investment Strategist, EMEA, Franklin Templeton ETFs

Will the good times continue for the UK equity market in light of an upcoming election? Marcus Weyerer opines.

The sun is setting over 10 Downing Street

Broad measures of UK equity performance like the FTSE UK RIC Capped Net Tax Index have posted record levels in the wake of local elections.¹ The last on-the-ground test of political sentiment in the country before the general election only confirmed what polls have been predicting for a while now: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is heading for a crushing defeat, some five years after winning a historic majority.

When former Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed through a snap election at the end of 2019, his promise to “get Brexit done” carried the Tories to the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher.

Of course, a few COVID…