All major Conservative manifesto ideas tested, including abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers and cutting NI a further 2p, make the public feel more positively towards Rishi Sunak’s party – but the public “no longer trust the Conservatives to deliver on anything they say”.
New research from Savanta show the public feel more positively towards Rishi Sunak’s party because of set piece policies such as abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers (40% net positively), promising to deliver 1.6 million new homes (33% net positively) and cutting NI a further 2p (25% net positively).
However, Savanta’s findings also suggests the limited impact of the Conservatives flurry of new policy ideas, with the public more likely than not to say they don’t trust the Conservatives to deliver on every one of proposed ideas:
- Promising to deliver 1.6 million new homes over the next five years (Trust to deliver 29%, Not trust to deliver 67%)
- Guaranteeing that they would introduce no new green levies or charges (Trust 36%, Not trust 58%)
- Abolishing National Insurance payments for almost all self-employed (Trust 37%, Not trust 58%)
- Abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers on homes with a value of up to £425,000 (Trust 41%, Not trust 54%)
- Cutting employee National Insurance by a further 2p (Trust 47%, Not trust 50%)
Savanta’s new polling also suggests that tax rises under Labour are “priced in” by the electorate if they win, with Keir Starmer’s party seen as the most likely party to raise all of the taxes listed including:
- Corporation tax (Conservative 28%, Labour 55%)
- Inheritance tax (Conservative 27%, Labour 54%)
- Capital Gains tax (Conservative 30%, Labour 53%)
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said, “Herein lies the fundamental problem for the Conservative Party’s election campaign.
While it’s priced in that Labour will raise some taxes, and the Conservative manifesto has some well-liked ideas, the public no longer trust the Conservatives to deliver on anything they say, including some reasonably popular manifesto policies.”
