Assessing the UK Labour government’s tax policies in its first year in office

Sally Ruane; Emma Congreave; Andrew Lymer

doi:10.1017/S1474746426101390

Assessing the UK Labour government’s tax policies in its first year in office

Sally Ruane^*
, Emma Congreave
, Andrew Lymer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Strathclyde University
De Montfort University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The article examines the tax policies the UK Labour government pursued in its first year in office in the context of its economic and fiscal inheritance. It presents the promises of the 2024 Labour Party Manifesto and the government’s main tax policies to June 2025. The article considers several possible interpretations of the government’s tax policies including the desire both to raise revenues and to establish fiscal credibility and assesses whether tax measures have been used to address social policy goals. The article concludes that, while cautious and even conservative, Labour’s approach to tax and tax policy making did not appear to be based on a cohesive plan, was not accompanied by a coherent or compelling narrative and failed to seize the opportunity for a bolder strategy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	443-455
Number of pages	13
Journal	Social Policy and Society
Volume	25
Issue number	2
Early online date	30 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746426101390
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2026

Bibliographical note

Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with Social Policy Association. This accepted manuscript version is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/]. The final publication is available via Cambridge Journals Online at https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746426101390

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Keywords

Tax
Labour government,
Policy making
Fiscal policy
Social policy

Access to Document

10.1017/S1474746426101390

Ruane - SPS-2025-0111 - Final Article With Tables & Abstract vAAM
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with Social Policy Association. This accepted manuscript version is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/]. The final publication is available via Cambridge Journals Online at https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746426101390
Accepted author manuscript, 236 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cite this

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abstract = "The article examines the tax policies the UK Labour government pursued in its first year in office in the context of its economic and fiscal inheritance. It presents the promises of the 2024 Labour Party Manifesto and the government{\textquoteright}s main tax policies to June 2025. The article considers several possible interpretations of the government{\textquoteright}s tax policies including the desire both to raise revenues and to establish fiscal credibility and assesses whether tax measures have been used to address social policy goals. The article concludes that, while cautious and even conservative, Labour{\textquoteright}s approach to tax and tax policy making did not appear to be based on a cohesive plan, was not accompanied by a coherent or compelling narrative and failed to seize the opportunity for a bolder strategy. ",

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Assessing the UK Labour government’s tax policies in its first year in office

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this