In a research note issued by the US investment bank, Goldman Sachs clients were warned that the UK labour market “could be compromised by promises to abolish ‘zero hour contracts’, and interventions in markets.”

“It is likely that market and business sentiment would be supported by the emergence of a Conservative government,” the note continued. Forecasting the emergence of “macroeconomic and financial shocks” as “inevitable” in years to come, the author contends that the “mixed record” of past Labour administrations will mean that “the UK business community may be sceptical that a Labour-led government would deliver market-friendly policies.”

The authors of the note say that the current Coalition government has “stabilised the economy, and revived growth” since its election five years ago, and as a result “has established some credibility in markets,” and claim that a Labour/SNP deal would “pull the Labour government to the left of the political spectrum, as well as raising the spectre of distributional policies favouring Scotland at the expense of the UK as a whole.”

The note concludes by identifying banks, construction and utilities as the three primary risk areas if a Labour government is elected; proposals and pledges made by the opposition in respect of these areas have all been “viewed with scepticism” by UK business.