The Labor Party has refused to commit to the sale of NatWest shares, saying it will “review the details” if the party wins the general election.
In a blow to the bank and ordinary investors, the sale that was scheduled for later this summer has been frozen until after the July 4 vote.
It would have been the biggest sell-off to the public since Royal Mail listed on the stock market in 2013.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had lined up M&C Saatchi to launch an 1980s-style advertising campaign, ‘Tell Sid’, to boost investment in the London stock market.
But now it will be the next Government who decides whether to reactivate the sale.
Delayed: The sale of the Government’s remaining stake in Nat West has been frozen until after the July 4 vote.
A Labor Party spokesman said: ‘The Labor Party will review the details if we form the next government after the general election.
Any decision we make will aim to ensure value for money for taxpayers and investors.’
The Government still owns a 27 per cent stake in NatWest after bailing out the lender during the financial crisis in 2008. At its peak, taxpayers owned 84 per cent of the bank.
Hunt revealed plans to sell the Government’s stake to retail investors in the Spring Budget.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Schemes like this have the power to encourage new investors, so it is expected to be reviewed by whoever wins the election.”
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at brokerage AJ Bell, said it is “vital” that Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves press ahead with the plan.
Abandoning the sale is “a missed opportunity to encourage more people to develop a long-term saving and investing habit,” he added.
Meanwhile, Will Howlett, financial analyst at wealth manager Quilter Cheviot, said that although Labor has a history of public ownership, it “is likely to want to take the shares off the public books at some point soon.”
“Indeed, it would be symbolic for a new Labor government to sell the shares, given that NatWest was effectively brought under government control by the previous Labor administration,” he said.
However, he added: “It could be that Labor will simply continue with the existing business plan in the short term and thus keep all its options open until it has fully assessed participation and is in a position to make real decisions.”
NatWest shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 1.9p, to 309.4p yesterday.