Prime Minister John Major described it as "the right budget, at the right time, from the right chancellor" before replacing Lamont a few weeks later with Kenneth Clarke.

The stamp duty threshold on the purchase of property was raised, reducing the cost of buying a house valued at between £30,000 and £60,000 by up to £600.

[1][3] John Smith, the leader of the Opposition Labour Party, dismissed the chancellor's statement as "a shameful budget from a cynical government that has broken its election promises", while green campaigners viewed Lamont's reference to the environment as nothing more than an excuse for raising taxes to pay off the public deficit.

[1][3] An Early day motion condemning the budget's impact on those on low wages and the poor, and signed by 70 MPs, was tabled before the House of Commons on 17 March 1993.

[5] Although Prime Minister John Major hailed it as "the right budget, at the right time, from the right chancellor", Lamont would be replaced by Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke in a cabinet reshuffle two months later.