UK budget will set country’s political agenda for years

UK fiscal events relatively rarely raise big ripples globally. However, Wednesday (Oct 30)’s Budget could be different with many international investors looking closely at the details of what may be the most important such statement for a generation by the UK government.

The reasons why the Budget is potentially so important are multi-fold. This includes the fact that it is the first fiscal event by any Labour government since 2010 in the last days of then-prime minister Gordon Brown’s administration.

A second related factor is that, given the huge size of current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government’s majority in the House of Commons, Labour may well remain in office not just until 2028 or 2029. But possibly well into the 2030s if a second term is won, even if with a much reduced majority, so Wednesday could set the agenda for much of the next decade.