It's not so much about Brexit
The post-mortem about the UK election has all been about what people didn't vote for. It's focused on Labour's left leanings, Corbyn's personal faults, the pro/anti-Brexit split. Fewer people are talking about what people did vote for and this is what I think:
- An end to the Brexit melodrama. Plenty of people just want to move on
- A pickup in the economy
You can see those exact two points on Boris Johnson's poduim here:
The hope among many -- including me -- was that UK Conservatives with a strong majority would stretch out discussions on the post-Brexit relationship and focus on the economy, which is forecast to grow just 1.0% next year.
Yet on Day One after the election he came out an pledged a hard Dec 31, 2020 EU trade deal deadline. Not only that, he promised to put it into law.
That headline sank the pound and continues to weigh on it. The market is desperate for a leader and a party that's focused on growth and 'unleashing Britain's potential' and I'm still hopeful that Boris will be that guy but his actions since the election have been a disappointment.
UK markets are cheap, the pound is depressed and there is money waiting on the sideline waiting for an invitation to invest. Many people were expecting Johnson to issue the invitation but instead he's stuck on playing Brexit games.
I spoke about this, US impeachment and the outlook for the Canadian dollar with BNNBloomberg on Thursday:
