Brits say John Healey’s Budget is the fairest since 2021

Brits view Chancellor John Healey’s budget as the fairest since 2021, a new poll has found, in what is a boost to the Labour Party following criticism from some in the Labour movement that it wasn’t ‘bold enough’.

Healey delivered his first budget as Chancellor on Wednesday, before which he faced calls to do more to tackle the cost of living crisis.

The Chancellor set out a number of bold measures in the budget to help with the cost of living, including a £100 energy payment for 20 million households up and down the country for properties in council tax bands A-D.

He also announced that the national minimum wage and national living wage will increase by 3.9% for 2.3 million workers, as well as increasing the threshold for small business rate relief for retail hospitality and leisure businesses from £12,000 to £18,000 – stopping 70,000 businesses from paying them altogether.

Now polling from YouGov shows that in terms of fairness the 2026 budget is the best recieved since March 2021.

According to the poll, 45% of those asked said the budget was fair, compared to 20% who said it was not fair.

When it came to the previous budget in November 2025, only 21% said it was fair.

The current budget was designed to give working people breathing space during the cost of living crisis, with the Prime Minister insisting that helping 20 million households with energy bills and lifting 70,000 small businesses out of business rates altogether was evidence of a bold budget that is on the side of working people.