The Labour Party governed the United Kingdom from 1974 to 1979. During this period, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan were successively appointed as Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth II. The end of the Callaghan ministry was presaged by the Winter of Discontent, a period of serious industrial discontent. This was followed by the election of Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
The June 2010 United Kingdom Budget, officially also known as Responsibility, freedom, fairness: a five-year plan to re-build the economy, was delivered by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons in his budget speech that commenced at 12.33pm on Tuesday, 22 June 2010. It was the first budget of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition formed after the general election of May 2010. The government dubbed it an "emergency budget", and stated that its purpose was to reduce the national debt accumulated under the Labour government.
The United Kingdom government austerity programme was a fiscal policy that was adopted for a period in the early 21st century following the era of the Great Recession. Coalition and Conservative governments in office from 2010 to 2019 used the term, and it was applied again by many observers to describe Conservative Party policies from 2021 to 2024, during the cost of living crisis. With the exception of the short-lived Truss ministry, the governments in power over the second period did not formally re-adopt the term. The two austerity periods are separated by increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first period was one of the most extensive deficit reduction programmes seen in any advanced economy since the Second World War, with emphasis placed on shrinking the state, rather than consolidating fiscally as was more common elsewhere in Europe.
The 2012 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday 21 March 2012.
The 1981 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Geoffrey Howe, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 10 March 1981. It was Geoffrey Howe's third budget and the second of the first Thatcher ministry. The budget represented a strongly monetarist response to the stagflation and high government borrowing which the UK was suffering at the time. The budget speech lasted for 91 minutes.
The July 2020 United Kingdom summer statement was a statement from the British Government, or mini-budget statement, delivered on 8 July 2020 by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It followed the budget delivered earlier in the year, and preceded the Winter Economy Plan. The purpose of the statement was to announce measures aimed at helping to promote economic recovery following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement was delivered to the House of Commons, where Sunak unveiled a spending package worth £30bn. Concerns were subsequently raised by organisations including HM Revenue and Customs and the Institute for Fiscal Studies about the statement's impact, as well as its cost-effectiveness, while at least one major retailer declined to take advantage of a financial bonus scheme intended for rehiring employees placed on furlough during the pandemic.
The 1972 United Kingdom budget was a budget delivered by Anthony Barber, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 21 March 1972. The budget is remembered for its large tax cuts, and led to high inflation and demands for higher wages, as well as the 1976 sterling crisis when the UK government was forced to ask the International Monetary Fund for financial help. It also led the Conservative Party to abandon "Post-war consensus" policies.
The June 1979 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Geoffrey Howe, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 12 June 1979. It was Howe's first budget and the first of the first Thatcher ministry, which had been elected a few weeks earlier. It was also the second budget to be delivered to Parliament in 1979. The budget marked a major change in direction for the UK economy, with an increase in reliance on interest rates and monetary policy to control inflation. It is also noted for its introduction of substantial tax cuts, such as reducing the top rate of income tax from 83% to 60% and the basic rate from 33% to 30%. The budget also saw an increase in VAT from 8% to 15%.
The April 1979 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 3 April 1979. It was the first of two budgets to be presented to Parliament in 1979, and the last to be presented by Healey and the Labour Government of James Callaghan. It was also the last Labour budget to be presented until 1997.
The 1996 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 26 November 1996. It was Clarke's fourth budget, the last to be delivered during his tenure as chancellor, the last budget to be presented by the Conservative government of John Major before the party was defeated by Labour in the 1997 general election, and it was the last fully Conservative budget until July 2015. Prior to Clarke's budget statement being presented to the House of Commons, its contents were leaked to the Daily Mirror, which returned the document to the government but decided to print some of the details, thus helping Tony Blair, then the leader of the Opposition, to prepare his response. Clarke described his statement as one that outlined a "Rolls-Royce recovery – built to last" and predicted economic growth of 2.5% for 1997 and 3.5% for 1998, but Blair dismissed it as "a last-gasp budget of a government whose time is up".
The 1995 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 28 November 1995. It was Clarke's third budget, and one of the shortest budget speeches in modern history. In his statement, Clarke reduced the middle rate of income tax by 1p to 24p, and after announcing that his spending reductions for the previous year had exceeded expectations by more than £3bn, announced plans to increase spending on healthcare, education and policing. His budget was criticised by members of the Conservative Party for not including more tax cuts, while Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown of the Labour Party dismissed it as "the 7p up, 1p down budget".
The 1994 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 29 November 1994. It was the second budget to be presented by Clarke since his appointment as chancellor the previous year, and its central focus was a planned £24bn worth of tax cuts. Clarke also renewed his commitment to increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel, but pledged to soften the impact this would have on pensioners. The statement took place shortly after the Party Whip had been withdrawn from eight Conservative backbenchers, leaving the government without a working majority, and amid questions about the future of John Major's leadership of the party. In response to the budget, Tony Blair, leader of the Labour Party, said it would be remembered as the "VAT on fuel budget".
The November 1993 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 30 November 1993. It was the second budget to be presented in 1993, and the first to be presented by Clarke following his appointment as Chancellor by Prime Minister John Major earlier that year. The November 1993 budget was also the first in the modern era to be held in the autumn, the government having decided to move the date of the budget so it could outline its tax and spending plans at the same time.
The March 1993 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Norman Lamont, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 16 March 1993. It was the third and final budget to be presented by Lamont during his tenure as chancellor, and the final spring budget to be outlined before the Conservatives unified their tax and spending plans into one budget statement.
The 2023 United Kingdom budget was delivered to the House of Commons on 15 March 2023 by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt. It was the first of two full budget statements presented during the Sunak ministry. It was also the first full budget statement to be presented by Hunt since his appointment as chancellor, and the first since the October 2021 United Kingdom budget presented by then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The date of the budget was confirmed by Hunt on 19 December 2022. At the same time he confirmed the budget would be accompanied by a full budget report from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The statement was presented as a budget for growth, with the objective of bringing about the conditions for long-term sustainable economic growth within the UK.
The 1987 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Nigel Lawson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 17 March 1987. It was the fourth budget to be presented by Lawson, and saw him announce tax cuts worth £2.6bn. He also forecast a £3bn reduction in government borrowing. Among his announcements were a reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 29% to 27%, and a reduction in Corporation Tax from 29% to 27%. The budget took place three months before the 1987 general election, which the Conservatives won. Neil Kinnock, leader of the Opposition Labour Party described it as a "bribes budget".
The 1985 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Nigel Lawson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 19 March 1985. The second budget to be presented by Lawson, it was held shortly after the end of the year-long 1984–85 miners' strike. The chancellor said the cost of the strike on public borrowing had impacted on his plans for tax reductions, although he did make some changes to income tax personal allowances and stamp duty. Changes to National Insurance were also announced, but threatened to place extra costs on employers.
The 1983 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Geoffrey Howe, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 15 March 1983. It was the final budget to be presented before the 1983 general election and the last to be presented by Howe. He announced a programme of tax cuts worth around £2bn for individuals and £750m for business, as well as increasing personal allowances by 14%, 8.5% above the rate of inflation. Social Security benefits were also raised. The Conservatives went on to win the election, but Howe would subsequently be replaced as chancellor by Nigel Lawson in a post-election cabinet reshuffle.
The 1982 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Geoffrey Howe, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 9 March 1982. This was the fourth budget to be presented by Howe during his tenure as chancellor, and came at a time when unemployment had reached three million and the governing Conservative Party were unpopular in opinion polls. Howe painted a bleak picture of the UK economy and outlined a fairly neutral budget. As well as drawing criticism from the Leader of the Opposition, the statement was also condemned by the Conservative MP Ian Gilmour, who had advocated a reflation package worth £5bn. The budget was presented a few weeks before the Falklands War, an event that was to revive the Conservatives' fortunes.
The 1978 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 11 April 1978. It was the sixth and penultimate budget to be presented by Healey, and the first to be broadcast on the radio. It saw the chancellor unveil a programme of tax cuts worth £2.4bn, including reductions in Corporation Tax for small businesses, and Capital gains tax. A new temporary lower rate of income tax was also introduced, which would be abolished by Geoffrey Howe in the 1980 budget, while the basic rate of income tax was cut by 1%. Healey also reintroduced free school milk for children aged 7 to 11. He told the House that for once he was not asking people to make any sacrifices. Labour MPs gave the statement a lukewarm reception, while the Liberal Party, which had recently been in an alliance with the government following the Lib–Lab pact, were more enthusiastic. In her response, the Conservative leader, Margaret Thatcher, the then Leader of the Opposition, claimed the tax cuts would soon disappear.
