After a difficult first year at Downing Street, on Wednesday, June 11, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves seized the opportunity of the spending review, which is the allocation of the budget by major spending categories through 2029 , to try to revive their plummeting popularity. The day before, Reeves had laid the groundwork, confirming that she would reverse the very first decision she had made upon taking office in July 2024: eliminating an energy allowance for pensioners. That cut, which has affected 11 million Britons, contributed to Labour's disastrous results in the local elections on May 1, and revealed that the far-right Reform UK party is now the preferred choice among working-class voters.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor announced more than £110 billion in investments to fund a new nuclear power plant (Sizewell C, in Suffolk) and to upgrade numerous rail links in central and northern England that had been neglected by previous Conservative governments. The NHS, Britain's iconic public healthcare system, will receive an additional injection of nearly £30 billion per year for its operations. Defense, the third major priority for Starmer's cabinet, will also see its budget rise as planned to 2.6% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by April 2027 (an additional £11 billion per year).

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