It was very much an ideological driven cost cutting exercise.

It was also what all three parties proposed. I remember an IFS report showing actual cuts were less than both Tory and labour plans and slightly more than Lib Dem plans, but if you go back to 2010 you had a labour chancellor promising to cut more than thatcher.

It’s common in hindsight to say “if only labour were elected”

Also worth remembering that in 2015 the country said “we want more Tory”. The coalition wasn’t Tory enough.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/mar/25/alistair-da...

There was also that whole Brexit and "let's give those billions to the NHS" kerfuffle. Maybe that had something more to do with the recession.

That was six years later, so seems unlikely.