What to expect from the post-election Budget

George Osborne is shortly to deliver his first all-Conservative post-election Budget. Matthew Partridge explains what to look out for.

Next Wednesday, Chancellor George Osborne will stand up in the House of Commons and deliver an "emergency" post-election Budget. While surprisingly few details have emerged, he is under pressure to use the first Conservative (as opposed to coalition) budget since April 1997 to cut the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.

And given his recent article on welfare reform in The Sunday Times, he is almost certain to say that the government will continue with its plans to reduce the welfare budget. This will also affect those in work, since tax credits are expected to be a particular target.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri