John Healey

Public · Oct 31, 2026

Labour veteran John Healey has delivered his first budget speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer, declaring that his was a “budget for the working people of Britain.” The Yorkshireman studied at Cambridge and became a disability rights campaigner and trade union official before entering Parliament in 1997. He served in the Treasury under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before spending years in opposition, including as Shadow Defence Secretary. He kept the defence brief once Labour were returned to government under Sir Keir Starmer, leading Britain’s response to the war in Ukraine…