Pious utterances from politicians about the need to offer business a predictable legislative framework, or to support green energy, are forgotten in the face of public calls for immediate but costly state assistance.
So energy or fuel companies in all forms, whether they sell to the public directly or are further up the supply chain, are examples of those at risk from government action. The same applies to broadband or telephone companies and the mobile networks and, if perhaps to a lesser degree, to the supermarkets.
When it comes to specific threats from the election of a Labour government at the forthcoming election, certain sectors look ripe for more regulation, windfall taxes or both.
Top of the list are likely to be the privatised utilities and, in particular, the water companies, although in some cases their balance sheets are too strained to sustain large payments.
Banks have found themselves targeted in the past, but recent announcements that Labour will not bring back restrictions on City bonuses may mark a sea change in attitudes to the sector.
Labour has indicated that it is open to new thinking on the NHS, which could involve a shift away from treating diseases and towards preventing them. This could mean more pressure on tobacco companies and perhaps on alcohol businesses and producers of foods perceived to be unhealthy.
That said, there have been substantial pressures on the hospitality sector since the pandemic – many pubs and restaurants have struggled with higher energy and food prices – and pouring petrol on that particular fire might play badly with the electorate.
…and the companies and sectors that could benefit
Governments have a complex relationship with business. While large companies or entire sectors can find themselves depicted as public enemy number one by politicians when it suits them, ministers are also aware that businesses and their employees pay enormous sums in tax, without which public services would grind to a halt.
More prosaically, governments use private companies to carry out a huge amount of work on its behalf, from building tanks, planes and warships to providing computer systems to the public sector, not to mention a plethora of outsourcing contracts for various services.
All this is true irrespective of which party is in power, so it is far from easy to identify any companies or sectors likely to benefit particularly from a Labour government.
That said, we could speculate that Labour under Sir Keir might be less inclined than the Tories under Rishi Sunak to try to row back on net zero and green initiatives.
Accordingly, it’s possible that companies involved with environmental improvement could be treated more favourably. Questor has tipped several investment trusts that pour money into green energy or into environmental assets more generally. Examples include Greencoat UK Wind, JLEN Environmental Assets and Impax Environmental Markets.