In our blog posts last week we reported on the Labour and Liberal Democrat manifesto pledges affecting executive remuneration.  The Scottish National Party has now published its manifesto, which picks up similar themes.  The SNP has a number of policies relating to strengthening the position of trade unions in the workplace, with part of the underlying rationale being “to reduce inequality in labour income and ensure a more equal distribution of earnings”.  In terms of employee representation, the SNP follows the Lib Dem approach of supporting employee representation on company boards rather than the more limited Labour policy of having employee representation only on remuneration committees (i.e. where executive pay is decided).

Although it is not anticipated that the SNP will enter into a coalition if the election results in a hung parliament, the clear link to Lib Dem policy in this area could well be influential.  In particular, it looks as if the outcome of coalition talks might mean that the policy of a Labour-led government on employee representation would go even further than their original manifesto pledge.