Ken Clarke shadow business secretary

Business leaders: Give us Ken Clarke

Business leaders: Give us Ken Clarke

By politics.co.uk staff

Ken Clarke is the most trusted man in British politics to deal with the economy, according to business leaders.

The shadow business secretary has 69 per cent confidence among the 230 business leaders interviewed for a ComRes/Independent survey.

That figure stands at almost double the level of confidence respondents had in his government counterpart Peter Mandelson, who only got 35 per cent.

In a surprising turn, given his popularity among the general public, Vince Cable came joint second, with 61 per cent confidence.

David Cameron also earned 61 per cent.

That figure was far above that of his shadow chancellor, George Osborne, who only received 41 per cent.

Confidence in Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown doubled in the past month, to 22 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.