The Conservative and Unionist Party

All six parties are asked the same questions in the same order, so their answers can be read against each other. Positions are the party’s own; anything in the grey line beneath is our note on where a policy is contested or short on detail.

1. 01

   Immigration & asylum

   Who gets to come here, who gets to stay, and what happens to people who arrive without permission.

   The Borders Plan would impose a total ban on asylum claims from anyone entering illegally and create a Removals Force tasked with removing 150,000 people a year. Indefinite Leave to Remain would require ten years rather than five, and would be refused to anyone who had claimed benefits, used social housing, or was not a net fiscal contributor.

2. 02

   Tax & the economy

   Who pays what, and what the state can afford as a result.

   A stated "fully funded" plan to scrap stamp duty, and £23bn of savings from welfare — framed as ending Britain's "welfare addiction" and building a high-growth, low-immigration economy in which reform expands the domestic workforce rather than immigration filling the gap.

3. 03

   NHS & social care

   How healthcare and care for older and disabled people are funded and delivered.

   92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors in the NHS than in 2023 by the end of the Parliament.

   From the 2024 general election manifesto, which remains the party's most recent full platform; Badenoch has not published a replacement, and has since abandoned the net zero target that manifesto contained.

4. 04

   Housing

   Whether enough homes get built, who builds them, and who can afford one.

   Scrapping stamp duty is the party's principal published housing-market measure.

   No detailed building or supply programme published under the current leadership.

5. 05

   Crime & justice

   Policing, sentencing and prisons — how much punishment, and how much prevention.

   8,000 more neighbourhood police officers with a named officer for every community, mandatory whole-life orders for the worst murders including those involving sadistic or sexual conduct, full custodial terms served for rape and serious sexual offences, and 20,000 additional prison places.

   Also from the 2024 manifesto rather than a new platform under the current leadership.

6. 06

   Energy & net zero

   How fast Britain cuts carbon emissions, what it costs, and who bears the cost.

   Repealing the Climate Change Act. Badenoch argues net zero by 2050 cannot be reached "without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us".

7. 07

   Education

   Schools, universities and skills — funding, standards and who pays for what.

   The party has criticised the imposition of VAT on private school fees but has not committed to reversing it in government.

   No broader schools programme published under the current leadership.

8. 08

   Defence & foreign policy

   Military spending, NATO, the nuclear deterrent and Britain's alliances.

   Defence spending raised to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 on what the party called a fully funded path — presented as the largest sustained increase since the Cold War, keeping the UK the largest defence power in Europe.

   2024 manifesto commitment; not restated as a costed pledge under the current leadership.

9. 09

   Europe & the constitution

   The relationship with the EU, membership of international courts, and how power is distributed within the UK.

   Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and the anti-trafficking convention ECAT, and repealing the Human Rights Act. Badenoch has made this a condition of candidate selection: only those backing withdrawal from the ECHR and the scrapping of net zero are approved to stand.

10. 10

    Media & culture

    The BBC, broadcasting, and contested questions of national identity and religious practice.

    No current published position located. This may mean the party has said little on the subject, or that we have not found what it has said — we would rather show the gap than fill it with inference.

Positions are summarised from each party’s published material and reporting of it, not from a full manifesto reading, and platforms move. How we work.