Manufacturers trust the Conservative Party more than their Labour and Liberal Democrat rivals, new research suggests.
A survey by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and financial services firm BDO said that manufacturers trusted the Tories more when it came to introducing the best policies to support manufacturing in the UK.
When asked which political party had the best policies to support UK manufacturing, the Conservatives polled 40 per cent compared with five per cent for Labour and three per cent for the Lib Dems.
However, 28 per cent said they felt no political parties had the right answers.
The report, entitled 'Engineered in Britain: Manufacturing a Successful Economy?', is an annual study to gauge the opinion of 1,000 manufacturers and 1,000 members of the public on the current status of UK manufacturing.
When asked whether the Government's policies were helping UK manufacturing, 41 per cent of manufacturers and 34 per cent of the public said yes, up from 26 per cent and 19 per cent in last year's survey.
When asked about specific policy areas, 58 per cent of manufacturers said the Government was performing well on the economy, up from 31 per cent in 2013, while 26 per cent of manufacturers said government was performing well on manufacturing policy, which compares to 17 per cent last year.
There was some scepticism about the feasibility of the Government's target of doubling UK exports by 2020, with 64 per cent of manufacturers polled saying this was unrealistic.
Patrick Kniveton, president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: "These results are very encouraging and it is good to see optimism in a sector which had been overlooked by Government for so many years.
"A strong manufacturing base is crucial to building a resilient UK economy and it shows that Government policies to introduce competitive corporate tax rates, cut red tape and encourage R&D, are working.
"However, a shortage of engineers could hamper this sector's future. It is hugely worrying that 89 per cent of manufacturers polled said the UK is not producing enough engineers and there is clearly much more that could be done to promote science, engineering and manufacturing in schools."
