'This country is a mess. I won't vote for Labour again'

After the Budget, Dan Haygarth and Hebe Campbell speak to voters in marginal constituencies to see if Keir Starmer's party stands any chance of turning its fortunes around

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Peter Cripps voted for Labour at the last general election because he was desperate to get rid of the Conservatives. But he wouldn’t vote for the party again, not least after the chancellor’s make-or-break Budget on Wednesday.

As he sat outside his shop, Car, Home and Garden in Sheerness on Kent’s Isle of Sheppey, the 76-year-old told The Independent: “I’ve lived on the isle for 50 years, this is the worst I’ve ever known it, and this Budget is not going to turn that around.”

In her fiscal statement on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves unveiled £26bn worth of tax rises in an attempt to plug the gaps in the public finances. The chancellor’s tax hikes will be delivered by freezing thresholds, dragging millions more into paying higher taxes, and a host of other measures, including a new “mansion tax” on properties worth more than £2m and a fresh levy on landlords.

She also announced the government will lift the two-child benefit cap and raise the minimum wage in an attempt to ease the pressures of the cost of living crisis.

Labour will need the Budget to go down well with swing voters in places such as Sheerness if the party is to turn opinion polls around and stand a chance of holding onto power at the next general election.

The port town’s constituency, Sittingbourne and Sheppey, was a Labour gain at the last election, with Kevin McKenna beating Conservative candidate Aisha Cuthbert by a margin of 355 votes, with Reform UK a close third.

Mr Cripps wanted change because he felt his town's high street had declined, and he hoped Labour would address that. But now, he feels let down by the government and does not trust it to grow the economy. He explained: “They’ve (Labour) come in, and they’ve made it even worse. I certainly wouldn’t vote for them again.”