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It’s been a period of great uncertainty. There’s even been talk of a leadership change. But enough about Aston Villa, we’ve got an election to discuss.

Mind you, David Cameron is a Villa fan and Ken Clarke is a Forest man. Surely that’s the Midlands sewn up for the Tories, isn’t it?

If only elections were so simple. We don’t vote just as football fans or as business men or women or even as Midlanders. We vote as parents, homeowners, consumers, taxpayers, NHS users and a host of other things.

But imagine for a moment that the election were to be decided purely on issues that affect Midlands businesses. Which party offers the best hope for Midlands PLC?

In my view, it comes down to two issues. The big one is obviously the economy. In an era of homogenous politics, there seems to be a clear dividing line here between the two main parties. Both agree that there need to be cuts in public spending to help pay off the country’s debt. However, the Conservative approach is for deeper cuts and a shorter period in debt, while Labour argues that swingeing cuts could damage a very fragile recovery and potentially send us into a double-dip recession or even a depression.

Obviously, getting it right here is going to be crucial for our continued economic health. Figures released by R3, the insolvency trade body, show that over a quarter of UK businesses (28 per cent) believe that they will become insolvent if the economy suffers from a double-dip recession.

In my opinion, the other key issue for Midlands businesses is the future of regional support agencies. David Cameron told me face-to-face during a visit to the Black Country that there was no catch-all policy relating to the future of the regional development agencies (RDAs) – Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development Agency in our patch. If there was a local will to keep them, they would stay, he said. But a few weeks later, Ken Clarke, shadow business secretary, seemed to suggest something quite different. There’s a real lack of clarity here and businesses – whether they think the RDAs are doing a good job and should be kept or a poor one and should be abolished – deserve to know once and for all what the Conservative policy is in this area.

And its not just the RDAs themselves. The likes of Business Link, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Manufacturing Advisory Service and others are facing an uncertain future. Organisations such as these have been a lifeline for many businesses. If they disappear, what will replace them?

And what of regeneration and commercial property development? Without public sector involvement, what chance is there of large-scale place-changing schemes getting underway?

These questions are rightly addressed to the Conservatives, because as the incumbent government, we largely know what Labour’s view is on these things.

The business support question one is likely to be well down the pecking order over the next four weeks, but questions about how to manage the economy won’t be. Like all of you, I will be closely following what the main parties have got to say on the matter.

Unless we have a hung parliament, on the morning of 7 May this period of uncertainty will be over and we will all know where we stand.

To paraphrase David Steel, go back to your constituencies and prepare for a new government.

Andy Coyne, editor, Midlands Business Insider