Kemi Badenoch is said to be preparing to unveil cuts to inheritance tax in her major speech at the Conservative Party conference this week, reports BritPanorama.
The Tory leader suggested on Sunday that reducing inheritance tax would be “morally right,” and is now reportedly set to place tax cuts at the heart of her address on Wednesday. A 40 per cent inheritance tax is currently charged on most estates valued over £325,000, or £500,000 on homes left to children.
The threshold has been frozen for almost a decade, resulting in an increased number of estates surpassing the cutoff value. According to The Times, Badenoch is expected to announce either a cut to the 40 per cent rate or an increase to the threshold, aiming to win back traditional Tory voters who have left the party in recent years.
She is not considering a complete abolition of the tax and will reportedly cut the welfare bill to partly fund the cuts. A spokesperson told The Times: “This is pure speculation. Kemi Badenoch has said multiple times that she would like to abolish inheritance tax, but she must find the savings first. That position hasn’t changed.”
Ahead of the Birmingham gathering, Badenoch reiterated her standpoint. “It is morally right that people don’t get taxed twice. It is morally right that if you work hard and want to give something to your children, the government doesn’t take it away,” she stated.
She added: “I am not going to announce tax cuts unless we can show how we pay for them… tax cuts are a good thing but you’ve got to be fiscally responsible.”
This stance aligns with a wave of policy pledges released ahead of the conference, as the party seeks to broaden its platform for government before the next general election. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith will unveil the party’s economic plans at the annual conference, aiming to reverse its fortunes after suffering its worst electoral defeat in 2024.
Griffith confirmed that both he and Badenoch “ultimately” want to remove inheritance tax, but emphasized the need to ensure the move is funded: “There’s lots of things that we would like to do, but the job of Chancellor is to make sure that those can be paid for,” he told Sky News.
At the opening of the Conservative Party conference, Badenoch expressed confidence in an electoral comeback, declaring that the Conservatives would “win the next election.” She urged party members to prepare for immediate action from day one after what she views as a necessary return to government.
