Jeremy Corbyn declared Labour “the natural party of business” yesterday, ahead of its annual conference in Brighton this weekend.

The party will work with British businesses to create “the kind of economy we want,” he said, pointing out that many businesses have “Labour values at their core.”

Seven years of Conservative rule has “failed business and failed the economy,” the Labour leader said, starving the country of investment which has in turn hit Britons’ living standards.

“We are now the mainstream,” he said, “The government lacks any sense of direction. They are hiding behind parliamentary power grabs to avoid scrutiny.”

Following a summer in which Mr Corbyn announced the party would be in permanent campaign mode, Labour has already started to select candidates to topple vulnerable Tory MPs and is putting together policies for an early poll.

The seats of Amber Rudd, Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith are in sight.

The Labour Party conference will see the launch of the new Labour Business campaign in which every constituency Labour party will appoint a business liaison officer to work alongside existing trade union counterparts.

Labour’s chair of business Hamish Sandison said he has the backing from shadow chancellor John McDonnell for the initiative.

Shadow business secretary described the proposal as a way for the party to “have a conversation with the business community about how we can create jobs and prosperity for all.”

Labour now has a four-point lead over the Tories, according to the latest Ipsos Mori poll, with voting intention figures putting Labour on 44 per cent, the Conservatives on 40 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 9 per cent.

Meanwhile, another poll revealed that two in five people consider Mr Corbyn to have sound judgment, while half said he understands the problems facing Britain and has a clear vision for Britain.