Stuart Roden can remember the exact moment he decided to get involved in politics for the first time. It was September 23 2022, the day of the disastrous “mini” Budget in which former UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced ￡45bn of unfunded tax cuts. 

Roden, one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation, was listening to the announcement at his office in Mayfair. “I heard these words about reducing the top rate of income tax, and I thought, that is just so the wrong thing to do,” the 61-year-old recalls.

While he would have benefited personally from the tax cut, he opposed it on two grounds: “Morally, given what had happened to the bottom 20 per cent [of society] during austerity, while the top had done pretty well because of low interest rates?.?.?.?And because I knew that the markets would take fright.”