Rachel Reeves is fast becoming as hated as Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor who delivered Liz Truss’s disastrous so-called mini-budget.
Just 24 hours after delivering her spring statement, a damning Ipsos poll showed just one in five people believe Ms Reeves is doing a good job, with half saying she is performing badly.
In a devastating blow for the chancellor, it means she is plunging toward the approval rating of Mr Kwarteng in the wake of the September 2022 financial statement.
Following the notorious mini-budget, which sent mortgage rates spiralling and forced the resignation of Ms Truss, Mr Kwarteng had an approval rating – the difference between those who said he was doing a good and bad job – of -37. Ms Reeves is currently on -32, a five point drop in the past two weeks.
“No Chancellor of the Exchequer wants their job approval to be compared to Kwasi Kwarteng’s time in Number 11, but Rachel Reeves’ current scores are nearing his post mini-budget levels,” Ipsos director of UK politics Gideon Skinner said.
The poll was conducted on the day Ms Reeves used her spring statement to unveil a fresh round of benefit cuts the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) warned will push 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, into poverty.
The chancellor also drew criticism for leaving just a whisker of breathing room ahead of the government’s next Budget this autumn, with top economists warning she will now face six months of “damaging speculation” about future tax hikes or spending cuts.
Ms Truss’s tenure in Downing Street lasted just 49 days after her disastrous so-called mini-budget triggered mass market turmoil and saw the pound tank to a 37-year low against the dollar.
Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng announced the biggest raft of tax cuts for half a century in the statement, but were quickly forced to climb down over their plan to scrap the top rate of income tax for the highest earners.
Mr Kwarteng was sacked after just 38 days in a desperate bid by Ms Truss to shield herself from the fallout of the mini-budget. He became the second shortest serving chancellor behind Iain Macleod, who died a month after taking office.
Ms Reeves was facing mounting questions the day after her spring statement, with the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warning pensioners and the wealthy could now face a shock tax raid in the autumn if the worsening economic forecast fails to improve.
Director Paul Johnson raised concerns in his post-spring statement briefing that the chancellor has not left herself enough headroom in the finances to withstand challenges in the economy.
In particular, the threat of Donald Trump imposing wide-ranging trade tariffs, on top of the 25 per cent he announced on car imports on Thursday, would leave Ms Reeves with a black hole.
Mr Skinner added: “Immediate reactions from the public aren’t the final say, and some of her spending announcements do have majority support.
“Sometimes fiscal events look better – or worse – in hindsight, and it is delivery on issues such as the cost of living, economic growth, public services (especially the NHS) and immigration that will really count.
“But our research suggests Rachel Reeves is in for more difficult days as chancellor.”
