Conservative Manifesto: Breaking the Political Stalemate?

The Conservative manifesto launch demonstrates how close the Election will be and how the Conservative Party’s advisors recognise that the Party’s rhetoric needs to change to reflect that.

Gone is talk of “the age of austerity” and warnings of how the Government needs to be tough on spending. In come un-costed Manifesto commitments from the great house giveaway to 30 hours a week, free childcare. This is a calculated electoral risk and recognition that unless they can tempt additional support in the next 23 days, they will almost certainly face defeat.

In contrast to Labour who offered little in the way of new policies in their manifesto, the Conservative Party has decided to mark out a new approach to the election, by offering distinct policies that offer a much more positive approach than we have seen since the 2010 Election campaign. It is summed up in Cameron’s comments that the next five years should turn “the good news in the economy into a good life for your family" and “we are on the brink of something special.”

The groups where they need to make headway in the tight marginal seats include:

• Working families – The Manifesto outbids Labour’s Manifesto commitment with 30 hours of free childcare each week
• Lower income families – echoing Margaret Thatcher’s famous policy, the Manifesto commits to a new right to buy initiative on Housing Association properties as well as enshrining in legislation minimum wage workers on under 30 hours a week will pay no income tax.

These headline grabbing announcements come on top of the briefings over the past few days including changes to inheritance tax and an £8 billion NHS commitment.

These commitments do come with a risk to the Conservatives’ carefully crafted message of fiscal discipline however, since most are unfunded aside from that they will be paid for “as a result of good economic growth”.

Confident in tone and with some stand out commitments, this is a significant break from the strategy to date, and Team Cameron will be well aware of the risks – the country usually leans Labour when they feel the economy is doing better, as public service funding issues come to the fore. Team Cameron have realised that they need something new to break the political stalemate before it is too late, and this is it. As one senior Conservative has put it however, it remains to be seen if the pig can be fattened on market day.

Policy Overview

Health

• Increase NHS spending to £8bn a year by 2020
• Provide seven-day-a-week access to NHS services

Education

• Freeze the amount of government spending per school pupil
• Create 3 million new apprenticeships and life the cap on university places

Work

• Raise the income tax personal allowance to £12,500

Housing

• Extend the right-to-buy scheme to housing association tenants
• Build 200,000 starter homes for first-time buyers under the age of 40, to be sold at 20% below the market rate

Childcare

• Provide 30 hours of free childcare to working parents of three- and four-year-olds

Tax

• Not raise VAT, national insurance or income tax, but raise the 40p income tax threshold to £50,000
• Increase the inheritance tax threshold for homes to £1m

Pensions

• Continue to increase the state pension by at least 2.5%
• Introduce a new single-tier pension

Immigration

• Keep an ambition of delivering annual net migration in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands.
• Control migration from the European Union, by reforming welfare rules

Culture and Sport

• Keep major national museums and galleries free to enter
• Freeze the BBC licence fee
• Provide a further £150 million to primary school benefit to ensure schoolchildren benefit from a minimum of 2 hours sport and PE each week

Volunteering

• Guarantee every child a place on National Citizen Service
• Provide all employees in the public sector, and in large companies, a new workplace entitlement to Volunteering Leave for three days a year, on full pay

Crime

• Scrap the Human Rights Act and curtail the European Court of Human Rights
• Strengthen the ability of the police and intelligence agencies to disrupt terrorist plots

Constitution

• Provide an in-out referendum by the end of 2017
• Give English MPs a veto over matters only affecting England, including on Income Tax
• Honour in full commitments to Scotland
• Implement the agreed settlement for Wales

Download the full FH Insight Special here: FleishmanHillard Insight Special - Conservative Party Manifesto 2015