Labour does not “deserve” to win the next election if it does not change the country, Rachel Reeves has said, as she acknowledged some voters were disappointed with the party’s record since entering government.
The chancellor said she understood the unhappiness felt by some voters towards a government that has U-turned on winter fuel allowance and welfare policies in recent months.
Reeves claims she has had to grapple with financial challenges inherited from the Conservatives, while increasing spending to repair public services.
Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh festival fringe, she said: “The reason people voted Labour at the last election is they want to change and they were unhappy with the way that the country was being governed.
“They know that we inherited a mess. They know it’s not easy to put it right, but people are impatient for change.
“I’m impatient for change as well, but I’ve also got the job of making sure the sums always add up – and it doesn’t always make you popular because you can’t do anything you might want to do. You certainly can’t do everything straight away, all at once.”
She told the audience at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre that Labour needed to enact the change that voters wanted. She added otherwise the party did not “deserve” to win the next general election in 2029.
Reeves said the government had the balance “about right” on taxes, in a week where she faced renewed calls from Labour politicians for a wealth tax.
Former Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds, who briefly held the shadow chancellor position for Labour in opposition, said ministers should consider evidence set out by the Wealth Tax Commission, which she said had “changed the debate” on the policy.
Reeves said: “Of course you’re going to disappoint people. No one wants to pay more taxes. Everyone wants more money than public spending – and borrowing is not a free option, because you’ve got to pay for it.
“I think people know those sort of constraints but no one really likes them and I’m the one that has to sort the sums up.”
The party faces difficulties ahead of the Scottish parliament elections in Holyrood next year. It has slipped backwards into third place, according to opinion polling, a year after it was neck and neck with the SNP.
Polling in June showed it on 19%, behind the SNP in 29% and Reform UK on 22%.
This is in contrast to a survey carried out a month after Labour’s general election win last year, which showed the party just ahead of the ruling SNP, with Reform languishing far behind.
There have been some signs of promise, however, as Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection for the Scottish parliament in June.
The closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery before its transition to an import-only terminal caused unpopularity for Labour. About 400 jobs were lost as a result of it shutting in April.
The MP who had championed it being kept open, Brian Leishman, has since been suspended by Labour for rebelling over welfare reform.
Meanwhile, the Labour government in Westminster’s ban on new drilling in the North Sea has been accused of causing “strangulation” of the economy in north-east Scotland.
However, Reeves told the audience in the Scottish capital that the government was further investing in Scotland. She said the £200m investment in carbon capture technology in Aberdeenshire had been welcomed by the industry.
She said she also understood Labour’s windfall tax on oil and gas were not welcomed by the sector.
“I can understand that that’s extra tax that the oil and gas sector are paying but you can’t really have one without the other,” she said.
