Back in more normal times the press used to struggle for stories in the “silly season” from mid-July to September. This has been less of a problem in recent years.
With a new Prime Minister taking over on the 24th July, the first day of the school holidays, hopefully Boris Johnson has an understanding ex-wife (and others) as he seems unlikely to be doing much of the parenting this summer.
Given that Johnson (the polls say he will win a landslide victory over Jeremy Hunt) will have six weeks to attend to domestic matters while his EU counterparts are all on holiday, it will be fascinating to see what he will do over the summer. With a General Election highly likely within a year or so, he will presumably want to live up to his Churchillian reputation (at least among the Conservative Party selectorate who are the only ones able to vote for him) with rousing speeches and a burst of energetic reform.
The “Heineken candidate” who reached parts other politicians didn’t reach when becoming London mayor has become the “Marmite candidate”, who you either love or hate. To win an election he will need to impress wavering voters or he could join the ignominious list of prime ministers who serve less than a year.
If we know anything about Boris Johnson it’s that he favours eye-catching and bold proposals, such as huge airports in the Thames Estuary and large bridges. So it could be a silly season after all! How can he convince the 48% (perhaps more now) who regret Brexit that it marks a bold new future for Britain? How can he convince more Brexity Labour MPs in northern marginals to defy their party and vote for a deal?
What all this will do for the pound is, unfortunately, anybody’s guess. So if you have your own bold plans this summer, do call your trader on 020 7898 0541. We have a range of very sensible ways to protect your pounds from a significant fall over the coming year. These include a forward contract which will fix your exchange rate for up to 12 months.
