Record number of postal votes gives Royal Mail electoral advantage

Royal Mail has enjoyed a boost in revenue as a record number of postal votes were delivered during the election.

International Distribution Services (IDS), its owner, said revenue from letters hit £985m in the three months to the end of June, up 11 per cent from a year earlier.

This came after Royal Mail made a profit thanks to a record number of postal votes.

The upgrade is a much-needed boost for the service, which has suffered a slump in letter delivery and is preparing for a crucial vote on a £3.6bn takeover by billionaire businessman Daniel Kretinsky.

IDS shareholders have until 25 September to comment on the controversial takeover proposal by the Czech businessman. The board of directors has already backed his offer.

But the government, under the National Security and Investment Act, can scrutinize and potentially block a deal.

Labour has not given a timeframe for this to happen. In an update, Royal Mail said it had delivered 7.3 million postal votes during the election campaign, around 50 per cent more than in the 2019 vote.

It delivered 184 million pieces of candidate mail and 50.8 million voting cards.

That was more than in any other election, despite public outcry that delivery was too slow and votes were not being counted.

Around 90 constituencies have expressed concern and the crisis is believed to be due to councils not printing enough ballot papers as Royal Mail failed to deliver them on time.

The service said it had investigated the issues and found that all votes were being delivered as soon as they entered the network.

Analysts at AJ Bell said the update showed “there are finally signs of positive change at Royal Mail”.

Total revenue for the IDS group, which also includes its international GLS service, rose 8 percent to £3.25 billion.

Kretinsky has promised that Royal Mail will continue to deliver letters six days a week and has said it will never renege on that obligation.

Peel Hunt analyst Alexander Paterson said that although the deal was “highly politicised” he expected it to go ahead, adding that “there were no objections to the offer that had not already been answered”. IDS rose 1.8 per cent, or 6p, to 342p.