Retailers contacted by C-Store have welcomed the prospect of a majority Conservative government for the next five years.

With the Conservatives defying recent opinion polls to secure a House of Commons majority, early retailer reaction has been positive.

Mike Skerrett, of Spar Dolwyddelan in north Wales, said he was “delighted” that a period of stable government would be continuing.

“The prospect of Miliband and co with their strings being pulled by the SNP was too terrifying for words,” he added. “A stable government will keep interest rates low which for anyone needing business finance will be a massive help.”

Amit Patel, of Belvedere Food & Wine in south east London, said: “I think its great news for retailers having a majority government, rather than coalition as policies would get dropped in negotiations/deals.

“The Conservatives must now honour their manifesto in its entirety, they know the state of the economy so have no excuse to backtrack on what they said they were going to do for the electorate.”

Harj Dhasee, of the Village Stores (Nisa), Mickleton, Gloucestershire, said: “The common sense and logic of the voters has come out. You can’t spend more money than you have now. The economy is obviously the top of the agenda in people’s mind.

“The uncertainty of the euro will be foremost in the next five years. We still have a lot of uncertain time ahead of us. I am not optimistic, it will be a tough five years, but hopefully by the end of it we will come out stronger.”

Another leading retailer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We are most of all pleased and relieved to have stability as it gives the best chance for the economic recovery to continue. We had concerns regarding Labour’s pledge on the minimum wage as there was little information about how small businesses would have been expected to fund this. In that respect we are glad to have the Conservatives back in power.

”Small business need support from government because added up together we are responsible for a very significant amount of employment, reducing overall reliance on the welfare state. If small business are not supported properly, if red tape grows exponentially, if increasing burdens regarding wages, pensions, statutory sick pay etc continue to be piled on us without relief from other sources, then we would not be able to continue our significant support of the economic recovery of this country.”

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman told C-Store that retailers had become more engaged with their MPs over the election period, with the number of MP store visits and hustings increasing.

He added: “The Tories will have a small majority which will make it difficult for them, especially if a couple of by-elections don’t go their way.

“The priority for the new government will be the economy and addressing constitutional problems, such as the EU, Scotland and boundary changes. Local shop issues are not the first thing David Cameron will think about, but we hope they’ll continue their good record on business rates and high streets.”