1979 (1979) United Kingdom budget
Presented3 April 1979
Parliament47th
PartyLabour Party
ChancellorDenis Healey
‹ 1978

The April 1979 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 3 April 1979.[1][2] It was the first of two budgets to be presented to Parliament in 1979, and the last to be presented by Healey and the Labour Government of James Callaghan.[3] It was also the last Labour budget to be presented until 1997.[4]

Described as a caretaker budget, it was introduced after Callaghan's government had lost a vote of no confidence the previous month, and was designed to facilitate the continued raising of taxes until an election could be held to choose a new government, which would then outline a new budget. Among the measures announced were an increase in all income tax personal allowances by 8.9%, which was in line with inflation at the time, the abolition of child tax allowance, and a rise in child benefit to £4.00 per week.[4] In his response to the budget, Shadow Chancellor Geoffrey Howe said Healey "will have left a dreadful inheritance for the next chancellor".[4]

The budget was supported by the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher, which went on to win the 1979 general election a few weeks later. Howe, who had served as Shadow Chancellor since 1975, and became Chancellor in the first government of Margaret Thatcher, then delivered a new budget to Parliament on 12 June.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "FINANCE BILL (Hansard, 3 April 1979)". Api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Nationwide Budget Special – BBC One – 3 April 1979". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Budgets 1979–1992". BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Bygone budgets: April 1979". The Guardian. 3 March 1999. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
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