UK business confidence plummeted after the disastrous snap election

Prime Minister Theresa May, after the snap election resulted in a hung parliament.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Business confidence plummeted following the UK’s snap election in June, which resulted in a hung parliament and has left the country facing yet more uncertainty.

Data compiled by Lloyds Bank and released on Friday shows that business confidence was running at 40% before the June 8th election. However, it plummeted to 21% after the vote — its lowest point since August 2016. The overall figure for June stands at 30%, a three point rise on May.

Economic optimism fell by ten points to 18%, its lowest level for five months.

However, confidence in business prospects rose by 16 points to 42%, Lloyds says, while firms’ intentions to hire rose substantially by 15 points, to 34%.

Consumer confidence has also slumped since the election. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has said this is likely to have a negative knock-on effect for business confidence.

Lloyds’ survey covered 300 businesses with turnovers of above £1 million, across all sectors.

Here is the chart of overall confidence:Overall confidenceLloyds Bank

And here’s the chart for business prospects and economic optimism:Business confidence and economic optimismLloyds Bank