New Labour Prime Ministers cause the biggest stock market swings
Live in 10 Downing Street and spend a bit of time in Whitney on the weekends? Then clear your diary and whip out the bunting – this Saturday it's time to celebrate.
That's right, on 7 May it will have been one whole year since David Cameron won what was supposed to be the most tightly-fought general election ever.
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For most around the country – as much as our dear leader may wish otherwise – the day will pass without event. But, those canny folk over at the Share Centre haven't missed a trick. They think it's a good time to take stock of how friendly Cameron's been to the financial markets in his first year at the helm of a majority Conservative government (spoiler: Not very).
And they haven't stopped there, using the FTSE All Share index, the numbers have been crunched all the way back to 1987, to see which Prime Minister had the biggest affect on the markets in the first year after their election.
Top of the pile, investors' – if not the voters' – best friend is Labour's longest ever occupant of Number 10, Tony Blair. After his 1997 landslide, shares shot up by a massive 32 per cent in the 12 short months following his election.
But, hang on, it's also the red team who have the most explaining to do, with both Blair and his successor Gordon Brown the worst performing PMs (when it comes to stock returns, at least).
Red stars
The early noughties may have been the hey day of New Labour, but the markets were less impressed with Blair's second term – the FTSE All Share dropped 17 per cent following his 2001 victory.
Brown, who never managed to win a popular vote as Prime Minister, saw the markets plunge by the same amount in the year after he took over from Blair.
Feeling blue
As for Cameron? Decidedly middle of the pack. The index went up 14 per cent in his first year, and down nine per cent in his most recent. How conservative.