The Sunday Times’ Rich List has revealed a sharp decline in the number of UK-based billionaires in a worrying sign of the damage Labour’s tax policies are causing, says Jon Shankland

The Sunday Times’ annual Rich List, published its latest iteration last week. Amid the names of the country’s most affluent, the list also revealed something telling about the UK’s wealth landscape. For the second year in a row, the number of UK-based billionaires has declined, sliding to 156 this year from 165 in 2024, representing the sharpest decline in the Sunday Times List’s 37-year-history.

And while the shrinking billionaire class is unlikely to elicit public sympathy, we should all be concerned for what it says about wealth creation in the UK. It is the tip of an iceberg where deeper structural issues in how the UK attracts, generates and retains wealth lie just below the water line.

This decline is happening against a broader backdrop of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) leaving the country. Recent figures from global wealth........

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