Implicitly and explicitly, that was the message from the Tories' annual conference, which has wrapped up in Birmingham. It is a party very much united around her, with no murmurings of dissent about her leadership, which is quite the contrast from a year ago. The pivot point in her time as Conservative leader so far came in her address to this same gathering 12 months back, when, amid constant chatter about the prospect of Robert Jenrick seeking to topple her, she won over the party faithful with an address that oozed confidence.
Us reporters were given her speech script, allowing us to follow it line-by-line to help us report what she has said quickly and accurately. But there was a page missing towards the end. On that page was the Conservative crowd pleaser of a plan to scrap stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland.
Fast forward to now and there was a familiar drill. There was plenty of chat throughout the conference and beforehand of a new policy coming on inheritance tax, and, sure enough, another page was missing towards the end of her speech with her plan on that. The plan reopens the fascinating politics and psychology of inheritance tax – which is paid by fewer than one in 20 people, external but has been described as the country's most unpopular tax, external.
Advocates of cutting or scrapping it say it is because plenty aspire to one day being rich enough to end up having to pay it, plus it is a second tax on already taxed income. But the Conservatives' opponents, even before this speech, were already looking forward to the argument they anticipated after it. Reform UK, for instance, claim it is a "tax cut for multi-millionaires" and that their plan to cut income tax for millions by raising the threshold at which most people start paying it will benefit far more people.
Badenoch pledges inheritance tax changes as she pitches Tories as 'no-nonsense' party What's in the Conservatives' inheritance tax plan and who benefits? I'd rather have another election than do a deal with Reform UK, says Badenoch Policy announcements aside, what stood out in this speech for me was a broader point. The veteran Conservative elections strategist Sir Lynton Crosby once suggested the party ought to "scrape the barnacles off the boat" as he put it, in reference to unpopular policies that could cause the Tories a headache during an election campaign.
This speech felt like Badenoch revelling in pointing at the clean hull of the Conservative ship, what she sees as those barnacles removed, not least the high-profile defections of Jenrick and Suella Braverman. There was a striking glee and anger in her reflections about Reform UK. She sought to portray them as sleazy and pointedly decided to lean into an argument of recent months about Englishness.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
