U.K.'s next prime minister: I'll tackle executive pay
Britain's next prime minister is promising to get tough on "irresponsible" big business, and ease up on austerity.
Theresa May, who will succeed David Cameron as U.K. leader on Wednesday, says last month's vote to leave the European Union was also a demand for an economy that doesn't just work for the 1%.
"We need to make sure our economy works for everyone, because it is apparent to anybody who is in touch with the real world that people do not feel it works that way at all," she said in a speech Monday.
May said she would give workers and consumers, as well as shareholders, representation on the boards of big companies. And annual shareholder votes on executive pay at big companies would be binding, not just advisory.
"There is an unhealthy and growing gap between what these companies pay their workers and what they pay their bosses," she said.
The Conservative politician has been a senior member of Cameron's government for six years. She defended its record on tackling the budget deficit and on reviving the economy after the global financial crisis.
The U.K. economy has been one of the strongest in the developed world in recent years, enjoying faster growth than other G7 members. It also created millions of jobs -- unemployment fell to 5% in June, its lowest since 2005.
And while income inequality has also fallen slightly since 2007, it remains way above levels seen in the early 1980s. Real wages have stagnated, and housing costs -- prices and rents -- have soared.
Too many people still feel as if they're missing out, May said, and that was reflected in the Brexit vote on June 23.
A poll of 12,369 people carried out that day suggested professionals and managers backed staying in the EU, while unskilled workers and the unemployed voted to leave. That poll, and a separate survey by YouGov, found that graduates were likely to vote remain, while those whose education ended at high school were likely to back Brexit.
"There is a growing divide between a more prosperous older generation and a struggling younger generation," May said. "And there is a gaping chasm between wealthy London and the rest of the country.