A new poll conducted by a leading accounting software company has revealed the ‘fantasy cabinet’ according to over 1,000 British businessmen and women. Sir Phillip Green, boss of the Arcadia group was the most popular choice for Prime Minister, whilst Peter Jones, the business tycoon from Dragons’ Den, was selected as Deputy Prime Minister
www.KashFlow.co.uk polled a sample of 1,327 British business owners, asking them questions surrounding which business men and women from the UK they’d like to form the fantasy cabinet with all major positions included.
According to the study, below are the top 14 cabinet positions and the people who businessmen and women across the UK think should fill the roles in the ‘fantasy cabinet’.
• Prime Minister – Sir Phillip Green, Arcadia group boss
• Deputy Prime Minister – Peter Jones, Dragon
• Chancellor – Michael Morley, CEO of Coutts & Co
• Home Secretary – Allan Leighton, Chairman of Royal Mail
• Foreign Secretary – Sir Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group
• Business Secretary –Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of Easyjet
• Culture Secretary – Charles Saatchi, co-founder of Saatchi & Saatchi
• Defence Secretary – Sir Christopher Gent, Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline
• Education Secretary – J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter
• Environment Secretary – Sir James Dyson, founder of Dyson
• Health Secretary – Duncan Bannatyne, Dragon
• Energy & Climate change Secretary – Vince Dale, Ecotricity owner
• Transport Secretary – Sir Moir Lockhead, CEO of FirstGroup
• Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – Lord Alan Sugar
Respondents were also given ‘wildcard’ cabinet posts and were told to select the best UK business person for the various roles. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was selected by 42% of respondents as the ‘Minister for Fun’, whilst 56% of people chose Bob Dudley, CEO of oil company BP as ‘Crisis Secretary’. 37% selected Bernie Ecclestone as the wildcard role of ‘Minister for Sports.’
Duane Jackson, co-founder of KashFlow.co.uk, commented on the findings;
“We thought it would be interesting to see which well-known business men and women around the UK entrepreneurs thought would make up the ideal ‘fantasy cabinet’. I was quite surprised by the results, especially seeing as there was only one woman featuring in the list.
“It appeared the respondents, of which there were an equal number of men and women, were more au fait with male businessmen. It was interesting to see Dragon Peter Jones chosen as Deputy Prime Minister; it would be good to see how he would compare to Nick Clegg.”