By Jessica Frank-Keyes
Rishi Sunak launched the Tory manifesto today at Silverstone race track ahead of the July 4 general election.
With just over three weeks to go ahead of polling day, the countdown and the battle for No10 is well and truly on.
But despite a laundry list of policies running to some 76 pages – with just six pages of costings – the Prime Minister didn’t have many fresh pledges up his sleeve.
Here are the top five things we learned from the Conservatives’ manifesto launch.
1. Sunak admits ‘haven’t got everything right’
In an admission mid-way through his launch, the Prime Minister referred to the levels of incredulity, even irritation, being directed at his party.
Sunak said he is not “blind to the fact that people are frustrated with our party and frustrated with me” and “we have not got everything right”.
He did insist the Conservatives were the only party “with the big ideas to make our country a better place to live”.
But the snippet came during a campaign that has already seen Sunak forced to—effectively—beg the public’s forgiveness after leaving the D-Day commemorations early.
It is an odd place for a Prime Minister to find himself just weeks ahead of an election.
2. Tory election focus on housing
The Tories have faced criticism in recent weeks for an apparent lack of policies directed towards young people, with offers on pensions and national service seemingly designed to appeal to the grey vote.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that at today’s manifesto launch, Sunak announced a suite of policies around housing – a core issue for the younger voters deserting the party in droves.
Sunak pledged to “abolish stamp duty entirely” for first-time buyers on homes up to £425,000. He also promised to introduce a “new form of Help to Buy – a new Help to Buy scheme – to get the new generation onto the property ladder”.
And in the manifesto, the Conservatives said they would “deliver 1.6m homes in England in the next Parliament” and end section 21 no-fault evictions.
3. Lower taxes heart of policy offer
One thing clear from this manifesto is that lowering taxes – or making the argument for doing so – is at the heart of this campaign’s strategy.
The total package of national insurance cuts – combined with the previously announced “triple lock plus” tax break for pensioners, child benefit changes, stamp duty and capital gains tax measures – would amount to a £17.2bn annual cost to the Exchequer by 2029-30.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt slashed employees’ national insurance from 10 per cent to eight per cent in the March budget, following a similar cut in 2023, at an annual cost of almost £10bn.
The third 2p reduction pledged in the manifesto is being sold as part of a drive to eliminate the tax entirely to end the double taxation on workers who are already liable for income tax.
However, with Hunt’s previous measures failing to shift the polls, it’s far from clear whether this renewed push will be enough to turn around the party’s fortunes.
4. Bold manifesto promises on migration
Sunak made some striking promises on the issue of migration, a question which has dogged his leadership since he pledged in January 2023 to ‘stop the boats’.
Battles with Parliament, the courts and the right-wing of his own party ensued, but his flagship Rwanda policy is yet to see any flights deport asylum seekers to east Africa.
However, speaking today, the Prime Minister pledged if he was re-elected, his government “will halve migration as we have halved inflation, and then reduce it every single year”.
His manifesto confirmed plans for a “binding, legal cap” on work and family visas which would “fall every year of the next Parliament and cannot be breached” – but stopped short of saying the UK could leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
It promised a “relentless, continual process of permanently removing illegal migrants to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of flights” each month from July “until the boats are stopped”.
5. Confirmation ULEZ would be ditched
Finally, the document noted the Tories would use their first King’s Speech to introduce a ‘Backing Drivers Bill’.
It says this will: “Stop road pricing. A Conservative government will not introduce pay-per-mile road pricing and will ban mayors and local councils from doing so.”
It also pledges to reverse the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) in London and “rule out top-down blanket low-traffic neighbourhoods and 20mph zones”.
However the move comes after Conservative candidate Susan Hall lost to Labour’s Sadiq Khan in the London mayoral election in May – despite running on an anti-ULEZ platform.
