IT was the job of the man with the red box to help people of the Red Wall in Wednesday’s Budget.
So did Chancellor Rishi Sunak come good for families in the ex-Labour constituencies who put their trust in Tories at the General Election?
We speak to voters from the region, while tax expert Richard McDermott, from d&t accountants, works out how they will be better off.
ELECTRIC CAR FAMILY
MEDICAL rep Deborah Hughes is one of the big winners – thanks to her electric car.
This year she has been paying £1,730 company car tax on her BMW 330e. But after April she will pay nothing.
Deborah, 47, and husband Simon, 54, from Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, will also save £104 each on National Insurance and £900 a year on their mortgage thanks to yesterday’s cut in bank rate, too.
Deborah, who earns £47,000 and voted Tory in the General Election, will also get an extra £19 a year in child benefit for son Mason, 14.
She said: “I’m very happy because I thought I’d be paying more not less.
“We can spend the extra money on home improvements.
“On the whole, Boris Johnson has done the best he could with what he had.”
- £2,857 BETTER OFF
HIGH EARNER
MUM Rachel Swann earns £85,000 as a sales and marketing director and £5,000 a year on a property she rents out.
The 49-year-old, from Clowne, Derbys, will save £104 on National Insurance and £266 on her buy-to-let mortgage.
Rachel, who is married to Peter, 72, and has twin boys Ed and Chris, 15, said: “It’s good news for us as a family but I am slightly concerned as to where all this extra money’s coming from.
“I’m pleased about business rate discounts for pubs and things that are going to help our local community.
“Against my expectations, I am quite impressed.”
- £370 BETTER OFF
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
PUB landlords George and Andrea Kemp and daughter Rebecca have run the Lifeboat Inn for the past 12 years.
The pub in Maryport, Cumbria, will benefit from an extra £4,000 discount on business rates.
George, 63, Andrea, 57, and Rebecca, 30, will be £78 each better off with National Insurance and could also benefit from a fund for small businesses hit by coronavirus.
George said: “They needed to give us a sweet budget and they’ve delivered one.
“Boris is a doer rather than a talker and I think he’s going to turn out to be a very good Prime Minister.”
- £4,234 BETTER OFF
AVERAGE EARNER
PAINTER Gareth Weller and wife Stephanie, a part-time cleaner, were delighted their home town of Darlington, Co Durham, is to get a boost from the Budget.
Gareth, who earns £23,000, and Stephanie, who makes £11,000, will be £208 better off with National Insurance and get an extra £19 child benefit a year for son Gareth, seven.
Stephanie said: “It’s great to see the Chancellor looking after families like ours.
“I also think he will have put a lot of people’s minds at rest that they will be looked after financially if they fall ill with coronavirus.
“For working families that means a lot.”
- £227 BETTER OFF
WHITE VAN MAN
HANDYMAN Jason Cooke, 34, runs his own home and garden maintenance business using his Ford tipper van.
He was delighted fuel duty on diesel remained frozen and that £500million a year will be spent filling in potholes.
Jason earns £300 a month and his partner Coleen, 35, receives £15,600 a year as her mum’s carer.
They will get an extra £31 a year in child benefit for their children, Anabella, two, and one-year-old Ethan.
Jason, from Bolsover, Derbys, who voted for the Brexit Party in the election, says: “I’m glad there’s going to be help for people who are self-employed and get coronavirus because usually if we don’t work, well, we don’t earn.
“I’d be interested to know how I’d go about claiming.”
- £31 BETTER OFF
SINGLE MUM
FULL-TIME mum Gemma Willis receives £352 a fortnight in employment and support allowance.
This will go up by 1.7 per cent, meaning she will now get £9,308 a year.
Gemma, who voted Tory, will also get an extra £19 a year in child benefit for son, Logan, nine.
But she will pay an extra £25 a year on cigarettes, which are going up by around 27p a pack.
Gemma, 35, from Stockton-on-Tees, said: “It can be tough as a single mum so any help is welcome, like with the employment support.
“That’s offset a little bit by paying extra for my cigarettes.
“I’m not giving them up, they’re my only vice.
“It was a good Budget. I also liked that he’ll invest more in green transport – it helps make the world a better place for our kids.”
- £149 BETTER OFF
PENSIONER
- £343 BETTER OFF
UNIVERSAL CREDIT
CARON Spiers receives £580 a month in Universal Credit.
With that benefit going up 1.7 per cent, it means she will get an extra £118 a year.
But the tobacco tax increase will cut into that and set her back an extra £30 a year.
Caron, 45, from Leigh, Gtr Manchester, admits that she finds managing money hard.
She said: “I’m happy enough with the extra cash.
“Any saving is a saving at the end of the day and I can just put that on a food shop.
“I’m obviously not a fan of the price of tobacco rising, but that’s life, and petrol prices are staying the same, so that’s good.
“I’m happy for them to spend more on potholes as well, to be honest.
“The roads are in a disgusting state.”
- £88 BETTER OFF
