Commenting on the budget, Rowenna Davis, Labour candidate for Southampton Itchen, said: “David Cameron and George Osborne can’t deliver a recovery for the many because they stand up for a privileged few”, while Conservative Royston Smith said, “I think this budget allows us to look forward with an increasing sense of optimism.”

“Working people in the South East are actually £1368 worse off since the last election and instead of doing something about it, George Osborne is giving tax cuts to the richest and allowing bankers’ bonuses to rise again,” said Rowenna Davis (left).

“The Tories said we were all in this together and David Cameron said ‘helping with the cost of living...is...what matters most of all’ but both these statements couldn’t be further from the truth. Only a Labour government can give this country the fair and balanced recovery it needs.”

‘Direction of travel’

Meanwhile Leader of Southampton Conservatives and 2010 Itchen Parliamentary candidate Royston Smith (right) said: “This budget emphasises a direction of travel. It rewards work in the tax system, helps savers and protects pensioners. But it’s not just a budget for those in work, those that save and those that have retired. This budget helps young people get onto the housing ladder by extending the Help to Buy Scheme, it supports families with up to £2000 per child towards childcare costs and it helps relieve the cost of living by again freezing fuel duty and cutting the cost of a pint of beer.

“There is no room for complacency and the Chancellor has warned there is more to do but I think this budget allows us to look forward with an increasing sense of optimism.”