Inflation falls: but will voters notice?

Today’s drop in inflation is good news for the government. The Consumer Prices Index grew by 2.4 per cent in the year to April 2013, down from March’s 2.8 per cent, with the biggest falls in transport costs, particularly petrol and air fares.

Prices for food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco saw the biggest rises, with a 0.7 per cent rise for food, and a 2.3 per cent hike for booze and fags. A continuing rise in the cost of the former is less reassuring.

But this marks the first time growth in inflation has slowed since the autumn of 2012. While ministers will hope that this continues, they also know that as prices continue to rise faster than wages, voters may still not be thanking them just yet for a slowing in the cost of living. The 2015 election result will owe a great deal to how much voters feel their lives have changed for the better or worse under the Coalition.