The votes are in at James Cowper Kreston’s Budget Breakfast and there will be no move from Labour for the young.

Today (23 November) saw the return of one of the biggest budget events of the year in the Thames Valley: The James Cowper Kreston Budget Breakfast. Held at the iconic Newbury Racecourse, the breakfast is attended by over two hundred professionals and business owners who are hungry for the facts about the latest budget announcement.

Presented by tax experts Ian Miles, Sharon Bedford and Alex Nicholson, Partners at James Cowper Kreston, the Budget Breakfast takes guests through the tax changes which were highlighted in this year’s Autumn Budget. Accompanying the talks, interactive voting was featured to gain an understanding of the general mood across the Thames Valley following some of the less surprising announcements made by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond.

With Mr Hammond’s announcement of a £3bn reserve, for future challenges brought on by Brexit, guests were asked what type of EU deal they thought we were heading for. Only 13% believed we were in for ‘the best that Britain could get’ where 59% think that we will get a ‘deal with too many concessions’; if the latter is true it appears that the £3bn may not be enough.

Keeping with the Brexit theme, attendees were asked whether they thought Teresa May’s Government is making the right approach to Brexit negotiations with the EU. The majority vote of 43% stated that, regardless of who was in charge, progress would be slow and difficult, while 36% believed May’s government was not up to the challenge.

It was documented on 22 November that Hammond’s Budget was one for the young, but have the Conservative party done enough to win the vote of young constituents from Corbyn’s Labour? An overwhelming 73% of those in attendance believed that, in spite of the abolition of Stamp Duty Land Tax for properties of a certain value, the introduction of the millennial rail card and a new focus on maths studies, younger voters will still choose to lend their support, and indeed their votes, to the Labour Party.

Considering the recent headlines which emphasise pressure between the chancellor and the PM the question was asked: ‘will Philip Hammond still be chancellor at the time of the next budget?’ 31% predicted that Mr Hammond would soon be ousted from his post where 69% believed that he will retain his position and be there to announce the Budget in 2018. It will be then that we are able to see if any of these new reforms have a positive impact on the British Economy.