Well if you read the Slow at the Minute thread, every conceivable thing has been blamed for business being bad (and good) at one time or another including hot weather, cold weather, school holidays, schools going back, rain, strikes, payday, Ebola, the World Cup, everybody else and how much they charge, Christmas, Ramadan, Wimbledon, swine flu and fog.
I doubt it's too much of a stretch to add a General Election to the list

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