By Jonathan Davies

More than 100 business leaders have signed a letter pledging their support for the Conservative party, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The senior executives, who employ around half-a-million people, praised David Cameron and George Osborne, hailing their policies as showing that “the UK is open for business”.

They also warn that a Labour government would “threaten jobs and deter investment”.

The Conservatives welcomed the "unprecedented" letter, but Labour argued that the Tories "organised" the letter, stressing that business leaders wanting lower taxes is "nothing new".

The 103 individuals who signed the letter backed the Conservatives' plans to cut Corporation tax and said that deviation from that plan would "put the recovery at risk". Labour has pledged to reverse the cuts to Corporation tax and put them back to 28%, where they were when the coalition took office.

Signatories include the bosses of Iceland, Ladbrokes, the owner of Primark, Costa Coffee, Ted Baker, Mothercare, Pizza Express and the former head of Marks & Spencer. Kingsmill, Cobra beer, Robinsons, Tango and London Pride are also represented by signatories.

It even contains five business leaders, including Sir Charles Dunstone, the chairman of Dixons Carphone and Talk Talk, and former Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne, who have previously backed the Labour party.

Perhaps most embarrassingly for Labour, it is also signed by Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg. On Monday, Ed Miliband unveiled his 'Business Manifesto' at Bloomberg's headquarters.

The letter is signed by nine senior executives from FTSE 100 companies, 21 FTSE 250 companies, and other small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders.

The letter in full

Dear Sirs,

We run some of the leading businesses in the UK. We believe this Conservative-led Government has been good for business and has pursued policies which have supported investment and job creation.

David Cameron and George Osborne’s flagship policy of progressively lowering Corporation Tax to 20% has been very important in showing the UK is open for business. It has been a key part of their economic plan.

The result is that Britain grew faster than any other major economy last year and businesses like ours have created over 1.85m new jobs.

We believe a change in course will threaten jobs and deter investment. This would send a negative message about Britain and put the recovery at risk.