Peter Cripps voted Labor at the last general election because he was desperate to get rid of the Tories. But he did not vote for the party again, not least after the Chancellor’s cancellation budget on Wednesday.
As he stood outside his shop, Car, Home and Garden in Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, the 76-year-old told The Independent: “I’ve lived on the island for 50 years, this is the worst I’ve ever known, and this budget won’t change that.”
In her tax return on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves revealed £26bn worth of tax rises in a bid to plug the gap in public finances. The chancellor’s tax rises will be delivered by freezing thresholds, pushing millions more people to pay higher rates, and a range of other measures, including a new ‘mansion tax’ on properties worth more than £2m and a new landlord tax.
She also announced that the government would lift the cap on the two-child benefit and increase the minimum wage in a bid to ease the pressures of the cost of living crisis.
Labor will need the budget to go down well with swing voters in places like Sheerness if the party is to turn the polls around and have a chance of retaining power at the next general election.
Peter Cripps outside his shop on the Isle of Sheppey (The Independent)
The port city constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey was a Labor win at the last election, with Kevin McKenna beating Tory candidate Aisha Cuthbert by a margin of 355 votes and British Reform almost a third.
Mr Cripps wanted change because he felt his town’s high street had fallen into disrepair and hoped Labor would address this. But now, he feels let down by the government and doesn’t trust it to grow the economy.
He explained: “They (Mucists) came in and made the situation worse. I certainly wouldn’t vote for them again.”
Asked why, he said: “I think this country is in such a mess. We need jobs, we need manufacturing. On this island, we used to have a steel mill – gone, toilet factory – gone, we had the docks. Everything is gone. We have no manufacturing. Until we get jobs, it’s not going to change.”
While Mr Cripps liked some measures in the budget – he is glad Ms Reeves decided to scrap the cap on child benefit for two – he is worried about a rise in the minimum wage. He said it’s something a business like his can’t afford to pay.
Stanley Ward in his shop, Kent Fresh Food (The Independent)
Equally unimpressed by the budget was Stanley Ward, 68, who runs butcher Kent Fresh Food and is also a landlord with three residential properties.
“I’m concerned about the property tax because they’re going to take money out,” he said The Independent. “You don’t want to keep raising the rent because it’s not fair to the tenant.
“I have good tenants and I don’t want to upset them by raising the rent. But I think it could come back, I think a lot of landlords will sell because it’s ridiculous what they keep doing to us.”
“As a business owner, everything has increased”
Like Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Ilford North is one of Labour’s thinnest marginal seats – the constituency has oscillated between Labor and the Conservatives since it was formed in 1945.
Wes Streeting has been his MP since 2015, but the health secretary survived a scare to keep his seat in last year’s general election when he defeated independent candidate Leanne Mohamad by just 528 votes.
But one vote Mr Streeting cannot count on is Stephen Laycock, 64, who owns the Hi-Tide chip shop on Barkingside’s High Street and describes the budget as “horrendous”.
he said The Independent: “I voted Conservative at the last election. I’ve never voted Labor and I never will. I don’t think it helps the people it’s supposed to help.”
He used his own business as an example, saying, “I don’t consider myself to be in the top business. We’re just a family business; we’ve been here for 54 years and we’re definitely not going to be here for another 54 years.
Stephen Laycock said he would never vote Labor (The Independent)
“It’s not just about the budget, although I think it was disgusting, I feel like it’s all tax, tax, tax.”
Like Mr Cripps, Mr Laycock is worried about how he will cover an increase in the minimum wage, which Ms Reeves introduced so that “low earners are properly rewarded for their hard work”.
He said: “I’m not getting the pass, nobody’s got any money. National Insurance went up last time. As a business owner, everything went up.
“We used to pay £74 for a box of cod, now it’s £400. How do they make money from it? Without duty relief, there will be nothing. Potatoes should be £7 a bag but they’re up to £24. You can’t absorb that.”
About 20 miles away, in the London borough of Kensington and Bayswater, Mrs Reeves’s mansion tax was a cause for concern. According to the Institute for Tax Studies, a quarter of properties affected by the tax are in just three London council boroughs; Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden.
Kensington and Bayswater is another parliamentary seat with a slim majority – the new constituency was won by Labour’s Joe Powell in 2024. Kensington resident Caroline was concerned about the tax, citing it as an example of Labour’s approach to the wealthy.
She said The Independent: “Thank God my property isn’t even worth half of £2 million. They’ve already kicked out most of the non-doms and well all the rich ones, which I’m not so sure is smart to tax the rich even more. They’ll just disappear.
“It’s the old-fashioned work thing, just spending, spending, spending and taxing.”
According to local Kensington colleague Helen, the tax threshold is too low. She said: “£2m doesn’t buy you much here. I’ve lived here for 40 years and the prices have gone up, but me, why should I move out? Because I can’t afford the property tax.
“I think let’s get people back to work. Our young people are leaving in droves because there is no future for hardworking professionals.”
Richard and Jean Whitehead believe the Labor government should be given time to turn the tide (The Independent)
More cheerful about the budget were Richard and Jean Whitehead from Ilford North. The two pensioners are Labor voters and believe Sir Keir Starmer’s government needs to be given more time to turn the nation’s fortunes around.
Jean said: “I think this budget will put some money in people’s pockets. The cap on the two child benefit is very important to some and the increase in the minimum wage will be good for a lot of people.
“But on the other hand, say for hospitality, if they have to pay that increased minimum wage, they might not hire that person because they can’t afford it.”
Richard is concerned about the impact of the tax bracket freeze and the resulting tax break, but is willing to wait and see how the policies presented in the Budget play out,
He said: “I can’t turn the tide in a year and a bit. It’s going to take at least two terms for the tide to start turning. It’s going to be hard in the first place and I don’t think anyone thought it wouldn’t be.”
Sir Keir said on Thursday the Budget “asked everyone to do their part” to protect public services and help people struggling with the cost of living.
On the tax burden, the prime minister claimed his government had “done as little as possible” to affect people and “did it in a fair way”.
The Independent has contacted the Treasury for comment.