Rishi Sunak

Institute for Government

Grant Shapps

Kevan Jones

John Healey

Paul Johnson

Torsten Bell

Ben Zaranko

Full Fact

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The Conservatives have launched their manifesto at Silverstone on Tuesday. Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that while the UK had "been through a difficult time" his party contained "big ideas to make [the] country a better place to live."

BBC News

Within the manifesto, the party pledges a further two percentage point reduction to National Insurance by Apr. 2027, having already fallen from 12% to 8% from the beginning of the year. The Conservatives also promise to completely abolish the main rate of National Insurance for the self-employed by the end of the next parliamentary term.

public.conservatives.com

The manifesto also contains a commitment to build 1.6M homes within the next term, an increase to the Stamp Duty threshold from £300K ($382K) to £425K ($541K), and a new Help to Buy Scheme providing first-time buyers an equity loan of up to 20% for new builds. NHS spending is pledged to increase above the rate of inflation every year, while the Child Benefit system is intended to move from an individual to a household system.

The Tories have announced the intention to clarify the definition of sex within the Equality Act as biological, a guarantee of no new green levies or charges, as well as a commitment to not raise corporation tax, capital gains tax, income tax, or VAT.  The document also includes previously announced policies such as National Service, 2.5% GDP defense spending,  a smoking ban, and a migration cap.

The party's manifesto costings document claims that Conservative policies will cost approximately £1B ($1.3B) in 2025-26, while reducing the overall cost of borrowing in the period up to 2029-30 by over £2B ($2.6B).

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has initially concluded that the Conservative manifesto contains approximately £17B ($22B) a year in tax cuts, and – amongst other reductions – a £12B ($15B) reduction in welfare spending, without further detail concerning the required £10-20B ($13-25B) spending cuts necessary following the March Budget.

UK Election: Conservatives Launch Party Manifesto

The Controversies

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UK Election: Conservatives Launch Party Manifesto

The Controversies

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