According to the survey 36 per cent of Britons think that Branson is the best business person to step into David Cameron’s shoes. Lord Sugar came in second with 16 per cent of the vote.
Female business bosses fared badly in the survey: Deborah Meaden from Dragons’ Den and West Ham United’s Karren Brady trailed behind Branson and Sugar, securing just 5 per cent of votes each.
Younger respondents were more likely to pick Deborah Meaden for PM – amongst 18-24-year-olds, she secured 9 per cent of votes. Richard Branson topped the list with just 21 per cent of this age group.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the multi-billion-dollar Facebook, and Jamie Oliver came head to head in Everline’s poll. Some 3 per cent of respondents want the social media mogul as Britain’s prime minister, and 4 per cent of respondents would like to see the celebrity chef in Number 10.
Despite his global success, Simon Cowell struggled to show that he has the X-Factor to lead the country, with just 3 per cent of votes. But, younger people are a bit more likely to think that Simon has the political prowess needed to be PM, with 7 per cent of 25-34-year-olds picking him for the country’s top job.
The founder of Ultimo, Michelle Mone, was the top choice of just 1% of respondents, even getting beaten by David Beckham who got 2 per cent of the vote. Michelle Mone also got the same proportion of votes as TOWIE’s Joey Essex.
Russell Gould, COO of Everline who commissioned the research, commented: “The business success, ambition and charisma of Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and Deborah Meaden make them great choices to lead the country. Yet, there is a distinct lack of equally aspirational younger business leaders to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. We hope that the new Government will do more to help small businesses get the support they need to grow, including access to advice and different finance options. This will help pave the way for the next generation of Richard Bransons to inspire people to start their own business and propel the UK’s economic growth.”
