A recent YouGov poll places Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party just one percentage point behind the Conservative Party with just weeks to go before the nation’s general election. The survey shows the far-left Labour Party leading with 38 percent, the Conservatives at 18 percent, Reform at 17 percent, Liberal Democrats at 15 percent, and the Greens at eight percent.
The results were announced shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched his election manifesto – a regular occurrence for all parties at UK elections, where they set out their policy platform for the next government, should they take power.
Key pledges include a small cut in national insurance tax, with a plan to eliminate it entirely for self-employed individuals within five years. Sunak unveiled these measures in an effort to reinvigorate his campaign, which has been floundering since his widely ridiculed ‘national service’ idea was launched last week.
The manifesto also included:
- Pensions: A guarantee that both the state pension and the tax-free allowance for pensioners always increase with the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5 percent, so the new state pension doesn’t get dragged into income tax;
- No new climate taxes: A Tory government would introduce no new green levies or charges while also cutting consumers’ costs of “going green”;
- School cell phone ban: The use of mobile phones during the school day would be banned;
- Defense spending boost: Spending as a proportion of GDP would rise to 2.5 percent by 2030;
- Migration cap: A legal cap on migration would be introduced to ensure it falls every year;
- Greater protection for women and girls: The Equality Act would be amended to better protect female-only spaces and competitiveness in sports.
Sunak committed to delivering 1.6 million new homes through expedited planning on brownfield sites and vowed to repeal certain EU laws.
The Prime Minister insisted the Conservative platform represents a “secure future” with lower immigration, reduced taxes, and protected pensions. He warned that a Labour government would potentially change voting laws to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote, which he suggested could entrench their power.
