New post-budget polling has delivered a brutal verdict for Labour, with public trust in the government’s economic competence crashing to extraordinary lows – even below Liz Truss, whose 2022 mini-budget triggered market chaos and a historic economic fallout.
A new Sky News–YouGov survey shows that 52% of voters believe the country will be worse off because of Rachel Reeves’ Budget, while only 8% think the UK will be better off.
When asked about their own households, the response was even bleaker: just 2% of people think they and their families will be better off after the Budget, while half of all respondents expect to be worse off.
🧾 Did Reeves exaggerate the economic picture?
The poll also reveals significant scepticism about Reeves’ honesty.
- 37% believe she exaggerated how bad the economy was prior to the Budget
- Only 18% believe she was broadly honest
- 13% think she made things sound better than reality
This paints a picture of a public struggling to trust the chancellor’s messaging – and unhappy with the Budget’s outcomes.
💸 Budget seen as “unfair” and a broken promise
More than half – 54% – say the Budget was unfair, including one in six Labour voters.
Meanwhile, 57% believe Reeves has broken the party’s election promises, with only 13% believing she has kept them.
The divide between generations is also evident:
- 20% of voters think the Budget prioritised older people too heavily
- 23% think it favoured the young over the old
🗳️ Labour and Tories now tied with just 19%
The political damage is also beginning to register.
According to the latest Sky News–Times–YouGov tracker:
- Reform UK is now leading on 26%
- Labour and Conservatives are tied at 19%
- Greens sit on 16%
- Liberal Democrats on 14%
This suggests that while the Budget hasn’t dramatically shifted public sentiment, Labour’s already fragile polling position is failing to recover.
💼 Trust on the economy collapses – now below Truss
Perhaps the most striking finding is the collapse in trust:
Only 10% of voters now trust Labour with the economy –
➡️ lower than Liz Truss
➡️ lower than Jeremy Corbyn in 2019
By comparison:
- Conservatives: 17%
- Reform UK: 13%
- Greens: 8%
- Lib Dems: 5%
A staggering 47% don’t trust any party at all.
Even Labour’s own base is wobbling:
- Only 57% of current Labour voters think the party is best placed to run the economy
- Among 2024 Labour voters, that number falls to just 25%
😬 Reeves and Starmer both score disastrous ratings
Voters seem deeply unimpressed with Labour’s leadership:
- 63% think Rachel Reeves is doing a bad job
- Only 11% think she’s doing well
- 69% believe Starmer is doing a bad job
The findings collectively suggest a government struggling to hold public confidence – with economic credibility evaporating at a critical moment.
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