It is a frequent complaint that politicians ignore the retail sector. Events of the last week have shown that they do so at their peril.

It is a frequent complaint that politicians ignore the retail sector. Events of the last week have shown that they do so at their peril. Too often retail’s status as the biggest private sector employer is ignored, but the furore that followed last week’s letter to the The Daily Telegraph supporting the Conservatives’ intention to partially scrap the planned National Insurance rise put retailers centre stage in the election battle.

It is well known that some retail leaders, like Simon Wolfson and Lord Harris, harbour strong political affiliations. But the letter cannot be dismissed as opportunism by Tory-supporting captains of industry. Many signatories to the letter are bosses who would run a mile at being seen as supporting an overtly political campaign.

It is absolutely right they spoke out about National Insurance because it is a tax on jobs and right now it is retailers that are creating jobs. It is a tax that is easy to increase because it is not politically charged, but to penalise those companies leading the recovery is crazy.

11% of the working population are in retail, which is a big block of votes. Yet none of the parties has ever set out a coherent set of policies to support what is one of the UK’s biggest growth industries. From crime to business rates, the Labour Government has done retailers no favours, but there have been few encouraging noises from its rivals.

In the run-up to May 6 we will be asking the main parties what they would do for the retail industry in government. Whoever they vote for, retailers need to be confident that whoever is running the country by this time next month has the interests of our industry at heart.