"This year the Budget comes at a particularly tantalising time, both from the political and the economic point of view" - R.A. Butler

In 1955, Britain was booming, and a general election was one month away. Rab Butler, Conservative chancellor, thought he had the perfect plan to secure Conservative victory.

In his pre-election Budget, Butler cut taxes by £140m. The Conservatives won a bigger majority, with prime minister, Anthony Eden.
After the election, Butler desperately tried to control the boom. But wage inflation continued and pressure on sterling increased. Butler introduced an autumn Budget that reversed the pre-election tax cuts. Shortly afterwards he was sacked by Eden.

THE BIG IDEA The dash for growth
Reginald Maudling: April 3 1963

"The theme of this Budget is expansion: expansion without inflation, expansion that can be sustained" - Reginald Maudling

Once again, a general election was looming in Britain. Under pressure from Harold Macmillan, prime minister, Reginald Maudling used his 1963 Budget to launch a reflation package.

audling knew that, with sterling fixed under the Bretton-Woods system, the economy risked running into balance of payments constraint. His plan was a "dash for growth", boosting exports and side-stepping the external constraint. But efforts to reach a deal with the TUC on an incomes policy failed. Wage claims soared, so did the balance of payments deficit. The Maudling boom fizzled, and the Conservatives lost the 1964 election to Harold Wilson's Labour party.

THE BIG IDEA Dealing with devaluation
Roy Jenkins: March 19 1968

"In the short term we must have a stiff Budget, followed by two years of hard slog..." - Roy Jenkins

The 1968 Budget was one of the toughest ever. It was designed to deal with the November 1967 devaluation which the Labour government used to tackle the balance of payments crisis.

Roy Jenkins, chancellor, increased taxes by an unprecedented £923m, more than double any other previous Budget, even in war time. His goal was to impress the financial markets, foreign governments and the International Monetary Fund.
The Budget squeezed consumer demand and channelled resources to the export sector. The cost of living index rose by 5 per cent. Jenkins kept up his tight fiscal stance right up to the election. Despite pressure to introduce a give-away Budget, he stood firm. Jenkins stabilised the economy, but Labour lost the June 1970 election.

THE BIG IDEA The dash for growth (2)
Anthony Barber: March 21 1972

"This is our purpose: To achieve a rate of growth twice as fast as in the past decade" - Anthony Barber

In 1972, the UK was on the verge of joining the EEC. Anthony Barber, under pressure from Edward Heath, prime minister, introduced a Budget aimed at tapping the opportunities for growth in the common market.

Barber opted for rapid expansion of domestic demand. He raised income tax personal allowances and reduced purchase tax. He also increased government borrowing to provide a monetary stimulus alongside fiscal stimulus. The "Barber boom" took off.

Inflation rose from 7 per cent in 1972 to 24 per cent in 1975, exacerbated by the Opec oil shock. Government borrowing exploded. Barber was forced to introduce deflationary measures in December 1973, and the Conservatives ended up losing the election of February 1974.

THE BIG IDEA The grand bargain
Denis Healey: April 6 1976

"I recognise that this process is unusual. Indeed I believe it has no precedent..". - Denis Healey

Among Denis Healey's many Budgets aimed at dealing with inflation and balance of payments crises, the most notable was April 1976.
A run on sterling increased the pressure on Healey to reduce inflation. His plan was to strike a deal with the trade unions. The overall Budget was neutral. But if the TUC agreed to limit wage demands to no more than 3 per cent, Healey offered a £1bn tax cut. In the event, Healey settled for a union agreement to limit average wage increases to 4.5 per cent. It was not enough to restore credibility. Healey was forced to go cap-in-hand to the International Monetary Fund for an emergency bail-out.

THE BIG IDEA Doubling VAT
Geoffrey Howe: June 12 1979

"We need to strengthen incentives, by allowing people to keep more of what they earn" - Geoffrey Howe

During the 1979 election campaign, Geoffrey Howe denied that he intended to double the rate of VAT. But in his first Budget, Howe raised the rate of VAT from eight per cent to 15 per cent. The 1979 Budget marked a decisive move from direct taxation towards indirect taxation. Howe argued that it was vital to improve incentives to work.

At the same time, he cut the basic rate of income tax from 33 to 30 per cent and the top rate from 83 to 60 per cent. Overall, the Budget cut direct taxes by £4.5bn and increased indirect taxes by £4.2bn.

THE BIG IDEA Slashing income tax
Nigel Lawson: March 15 1988

"The plain fact is that the British economy has been transformed" - Nigel Lawson