A mother-of-15 once labelled Britain’s Benefits Queen has spoken out against Rachel Reeves’s Budget.
Cheryl Drew, 43, formerly known as Cheryl-Anne Prudham, has issued a blunt message to the Chancellor.
The Sun reports she told friends: “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves need to do the country a favour and change that stupid Budget. Handouts don’t always help.”
The 21-word demand comes after Labour announced plans to scrap the two-child benefits cap from April 2026.
Ms Drew has criticised the decision, warning it could discourage mothers from looking for work – like she did herself.
The 43-year-old previously received up to £60,000 annually in taxpayer-funded benefits but has since transformed her life completely.
She has built a thriving beauty, piercing and tattoo removal business with three salons – all while having three more children after the Tories introduced the two-child cap in 2017.
But now, she has condemned Labour’s decision to remove the two-child Universal Credit limit, which critics argue discourages work while the benefits bill rises.
Ms Drew has laid out a 21-word demand of Rachel Reeves
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PA
One friend said: “Cheryl said to me: ‘I can’t believe what Rachel Reeves has done. She’s going backwards, not moving mums forwards.’
“Cheryl is a businesswoman too, so she’s being hit by all the mad measures. She said: ‘They’re screwing everything up.'”
“Cheryl said: ‘The Government needs to help us grow our businesses not kill them off.'”
The businesswoman now lives in a 10-bedroom property with her husband Mark, 47, and 12 of their children.
She no longer claims benefits and covers her 18-month-old’s nursery costs herself.
BRITAIN’S BENEFITS BILL – READ MORE:
One daughter supports herself financially while studying at university, and her six children who have reached school-leaving age are all employed.
Ms Drew now drives a BMW and contributes significantly to the Exchequer.
Friends say the Tory benefits cuts pushed her to become self-sufficient and gave her a sense of pride.
One said: “The cap coming in made a massive difference. Cheryl told me: ‘It’s been the making of me. I want what I’ve had for other women.'”
With her income reduced and children to support, she took a job as a carer.
One friend said: “She started with nothing and now has three businesses – and she’s had three more children at the same time. That’s pretty inspirational in anyone’s book.”
Ms Drew met her current husband around this time, and the couple launched their venture during the pandemic.
They purchased a laser tattoo removal machine, then ran it as a mobile service.
By 2024, they had saved enough to open their first clinic in Llandudno, North Wales, offering tattoo removal, Botox and fillers.