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The post is finally finished (mostly because I have more time now again). Note that since the election is still ongoing the things stated in here can change or be retracted by said candidates. It is also still very possible they may pledge or promise new policies and stances before the conclusion of the election. All sources found at bottom of the post.
This post is not meant to make one candidate more attractive to vote for over another or for deciding a vote in general. It is merely to inform anyone of the main stances and policies of the next potential Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister.
Rishi Sunak – Basic Information
- Rishi Sunak’s parents came to the UK from east Africa and are of Indian origin. Father became a GP and mother ran a pharmacy.
- Rishi Sunak born in Southampton in 1980.
- Attended exclusive private school Winchester College – worked as waiter at a curry house during Summer.
- Studied politics, economics and philosophy at Oxford.
- Studied MBA at Stanford University – met future wife Ms Murphy, daughter of Indian billionaire and co-founder of Infosys, an IT services giant.
- Became an analyst for Goldman Sachs and later partner in two hedge funds.
- First elected as Conservative MP in 2015 for Richmond.
- Appointed junior minister in Theresa May administration, later appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Boris Johnson.
- Promoted to Chancellor in 2020 and remained in role until resigning in 2022 beginning Boris Johnson’s downfall.
Rishi Sunak – Pledges, Statements and Policy
Economy, Taxes & Benefits + Cost of Living Crisis
- Vowed to take 4p off income tax by end of next parliament. (Basic rate income tax 20% > 16%)
- Wants to control inflation before tax cuts.
- Pledged to temporarily scrap 5% VAT rate on energy bills for 1 year from October if prices rise above £3,000 for typical household.
- Promised to double time benefit claimants have to work before they can stop attending appointments with work coaches from 9 to 18 hours per week.
- Pledged to introduce fresh multi-billion-pound package of help.
- Now supports Windfall tax on energy firms to try and bring bills down despite initially being against it.
- Pledged more money to help people pay energy bills – which would first be sought through government ‘efficiency savings’ to limit borrowing.
- Believes long term solution to lowering heating bills is to improve home insulation and getting people the support to pay for it.
Healthcare & NHS
- Would introduce £10 fine for repeated missing of GP and hospital appointments – temporary measure until COVID backlogs cleared. GPs and hospital trusts would have power at discretion to waiver fines in exceptional circumstances.
- Plans to reduce NHS one-year waiting times by September 2024.
- Wants to repurpose empty high street shops to offer CT and MRI scans to help reduce NHS backlogs.
- Pledged to create a single approval service for UK clinical trials to speed up the process.
- Wants to expand specialist surgical hub network which offer low complexity procedures including knee, hip and cataracts operations.
Business, Working & Employment
- Wants to reduce number of empty shops on high streets by 2025 – create thriving local assets, support skills, local businesses, economies and job creation.
- Says public sector pay deals should be decided by independent pay review bodies.
Housing, Infrastructure, Transport & Local Affairs
- Planning policy will involve building homes on previously developed plots in urban areas (brownfields).
- Promised to prevent local authorities requesting changes to boundaries of green belt for development.
- Believes government should look into modular building for homes – flat-pack style homes constructed on-site.
- Pledges to tackle land-banking where developers buy land but do not build on them – plans to force developers to complete projects before being able to get planning permission for other plots in the same area.
- Would enable councils to have greater compulsory purchase powers to buy undeveloped land at discount if said land has not been built on quickly enough.
- ‘Infrastructure first guarantee’ – ensuring existing communities are not overwhelmed and that enough school and GP capacity exists for new homes.
- Says would crack down on littering and graffiti.
Education
- Wants to clampdown on Confucius Institutes in the UK to stop Chinese influence and for national security.
- Supports return of grammar schools although did not specifically pledge to make it lawful to open them again.
- Pledges to open 75 new free schools.
- Plans to create a new British baccalaureate so that pupils continue studying core subjects (such as English and Maths) until 18.
- Says he would phase out university degrees that do not improve earning potential.
- Wants to improve technical colleges, strengthen their links with industry and enable them to award degrees in bid to improve vocational training.
- Promised to strengthen guidance on sex and relationship education in schools to shield children from ‘inappropriate material’.
- Wants inspectors from Ofsted to grade schools on their sports lessons.
Environment + Climate Crisis
- Will continue to pursue goal of net zero by 2050.
- Previously promised to make the UK the first ever net zero aligned global financial centre.
- Supports meeting net zero via green energy and increasing economic growth.
- Wants to reverse plan to ban new onshore wind farms and also expand offshore wind farm programme.
- Plans to introduce a legal target to make the UK energy self-sufficient by 2045.
Policing & Crime
- Wants to make downblousing (taking photos down women’s top without consent) a criminal offense – avoiding loophole.
- Promised not to let ‘political correctness’ stop him from tackling child grooming gangs – wants to see perpetrators face life sentences and have ethnicity recorded by police in reports.
Immigration & Refugees
- Would tighten definition of who qualifies for asylum and introduce a cap on refugee numbers.
- Wants to make similar deals with other countries to send them asylum seekers – similar to Rwanda which he has pledged to do anything he can to make it work.
- On making plans for other countries to take back failed asylum seekers and offenders – Sunak says his plans would include re-assessing aid, trade terms and visa options for cooperating countries.
- Wants to create an annual cap on refugees that is set each year by parliament but can be changed earlier during emergencies.
- Would make enhanced powers to detain, tag and monitor those entering UK illegally.
Post-BREXIT + Northern Ireland, Wales & Scotland Affairs
- Has commit to reform all EU laws and bureaucracy that remain in place – by next General Election.
- Pledged to replace existing GDPR data protection rules to help UK technology firms innovate and for public services to share data to prevent crime.
- Says a second Scottish independence referendum is not currently a priority – pledged to emotionally and practically defend continuation of the union and do anything and everything to protect it.
- Disagrees with increasing number of Senedd members in Wales – says money should instead be spent on cost-of-living issues.
- Disagrees with Welsh government’s freeze on road building projects (in bid to tackle carbon emissions) saying it would cause enormous economic self-harm.
- Indicated opposition to more devolution for the Senedd.
- Pledged to be an ‘activist Prime Minister’ when it comes to Wales – indicating likeliness to get more involved in Welsh affairs.
- Also pledged more involvement in Scottish affairs and not letting devolution become ‘devolution and forget’. Also involves reforming ‘Union unit’ within Number 10 to have all Government departments operate UK-wide.
- Wants to bolster Scottish Conservatives – plans to provide campaign manager for every Holyrood seat, and conduct review of support from central party for Scottish team under Douglas Ross.
- Called for Scotland’s top civil servant to testify before a Westminster committee annually.
- Wants to require Scottish government to publish consistent data on delivery of key services to be compared UK-wide.
- Says he would bypass Scottish government to deliver funding directly to Scottish councils.
Defence & Armed Forces
- Promised to maintain defence spending and that current minimum level of spending of 2% GDP should be seen as the floor and not the ceiling.
Foreign Affairs
- Believes an enormous difference can be made between now and next winter to reduce UK dependence on Russian energy.
Rishi Sunak – Critiques
- Says embarking on spree of excessive borrowing during rising inflation and interest rates is not wise. Indicates Truss’ plans for tax would fuel inflation, push up interest rates and people’s mortgages.
- Says that Liz Truss’ tax cut plan would tip millions into misery and cost party the next election.
- Highlighted that Liz Truss once campaigned against BREXIT.
- Says ignoring the SNP would be dangerously complacent – following Liz Truss comment on ‘ignoring’ SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as she is an ‘attention seeker’.
- Says ruling out cost of living payments is ‘simply wrong’ – in response to Liz Truss comment on favouring lower taxes over handouts.
Liz Truss – Basic Information
- Born in Oxford in 1975 to father who was a mathematics professor and mother who was a nurse – described parents as left-wing.
- Claims to have a comprehensive school background and education.
- Later attended Oxford University, read philosophy, politics and economics.
- Was active in student politics and initially was a Liberal Democrat where she had expressed support in abolishing the monarchy.
- Later switched to the Conservatives while at Oxford.
- Worked as an accountant for Shell, and Cable & Wireless – she met her husband during this time.
- Lost first two times standing for election as Conservative MP – 2001 in Hemsworth and 2005 in Calder Valley.
- Elected as a Conservative councillor in Greenwich in 2006.
- Worked for Right-of-Centre Reform think tank.
- Became a priority candidate for David Cameron enabling her to be elected as Conservative MP in 2010 in the South West Norfolk safe seat. (faced de-selection for earlier affair with Conservative MP Mark Field).
- Appointed as education minister in 2012.
- First entered Cabinet in 2014 as Environment Secretary.
- Served as Justice Secretary and then Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Theresa May.
- Became International Trade Secretary in 2019 under Boris Johnson.
- Moved to Foreign Secretary in 2021 – her last position before Boris Johnson’s downfall.
- Remained part of Boris Johnson’s cabinet until he resigned.
Liz Truss – Pledges, Statements and Policy
- Liz Truss has said if she wins, she would appoint Rishi Sunak to a position within her Cabinet.
Economy, Taxes & Benefits + Cost of Living Crisis
- Scrap April’s National Insurance rise.
- Cancel planned corporation tax rise.
- All in all, pledged around £30bn in immediate tax cuts.
- Temporarily suspend green levies on energy bills.
- Wants to bring above changes in quickly via an emergency budget and announce further spending review to find more efficiencies in Government spending.
- Pledged to release reserves of gas in the North Sea, and support fracking and nuclear alternatives in bid to bring down energy bills – but admitted that it would be a tough winter.
- Does not support windfall taxes on profits.
- Wants to create low-tax and low-regulation zones across the country to create hubs for enterprise.
- Supports lowering taxes rather than giving ‘handouts’. Noted that handouts have not been ruled in or out despite comment.
- Will pay for cuts by spreading UK’s ‘COVID debt’ over a longer period.
Business, Working & Employment
- Promised to tackle labour shortages in farming via short-term expansion to seasonal workers scheme.
- Wants to clampdown on Chinese companies like TikTok in the UK to prevent Chinese influence and for national security.
- Backtracked on plan to link public sector pay to local living costs in bid to save billions of £s. Followed backlash from some senior Tories who said plan would mean lower pay for many outside London.
- Promised to clampdown on ‘militant’ trade unions.
- Wants to review how water regulators operate.
Housing, Infrastructure, Transport & Local Affairs
- Plans to end ‘Stalinist’ housing targets.
- Pledged to create ‘opportunity zones’ that include tax cuts and deregulation to make it easier and quicker to build on brownfield sites.
- Wants to incorporate rental payments into mortgage assessments to help first-time buyers.
- Pledged to deliver the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme in full.
- Says she would build the M4 Relief Road that was ditched by the Welsh government in 2019.
Healthcare & NHS
- Wants to encourage doctors who came out of retirement during COVID pandemic to fully come back into the profession.
Education
- Unveiled plans to ensure students who get top grades would automatically be invited to apply to Oxford or Cambridge.
- Wants to widen access to top universities and have less emphasis on predicted grades.
- Wants to introduce a new post-qualification admissions system – allowing students to apply to universities after receiving A-level results.
- Pledged to expand existing high-performance academy schools – would replace failing establishments with free schools.
- Promises to bring more childcare around school days and widen range of providers who accept government childcare entitlements.
- Believes there should be more mental health support available in schools.
- Wants schools to provide single-sex toilets.
Environment + Climate Crisis
- Will continue to pursue goal of net zero by 2050.
- Pledged to launch a UK survey of wildlife to understand which species are endangered so that wildlife and biodiversity can be better protected.
- Pledged to review fracking ban – wants to do fracking in areas where local community would support it.
- Supports building more nuclear power stations including small modular reactors.
- Says solar panels on agricultural land are ‘depressing’.
- Promised to clampdown on ‘militant’ environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion.
- Pledged to put temporary moratorium on green energy levies to reduce energy bills.
Policing & Crime
- Promised to increase police training, introduce a national domestic abuser register (includes controlling/coercive behavior and financial abuse) and new offense of street harassment to tackle violence against women and girls and prevent repeat offending.
- Would make it so convicted domestic abusers would need to inform police of their arrangements with new partners and their children – or face harsh penalties.
- Pledged to accelerate handling of rape cases as part of programme to build on Government’s existing Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
- Promised to set target for police forces of cutting homicide, serious violence, and neighborhood crime by 20% before end of current parliament. Would also encourages police forces to send an officer to every burglary.
- Campaign says Truss would make it so league tables are published to track police forces and invite underperforming forces to a special meeting chaired by the Home Secretary.
Opposition & Protesting
- Criticised ‘unfair protests’ that disrupts people’s lives.
- Promised to clampdown on militant people and organisations who try and disrupt the country including ‘militant’ trade unions and environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion.
Immigration & Refugees
- Wants to extend the Government’s Rwanda plans and increase number of Border Force staff from 9,000 to 10,800. Also wants to make similar deals with other countries to send them asylum seekers.
Post-BREXIT + Northern Ireland, Wales & Scotland Affairs
- Plans to review thousands of laws inherited from the EU following BREXIT – scrapping or replacing laws by 2023 that hold back the economy.
- Continues to support a bill against the Northern Ireland Protocol – says protocol undermines Good Friday Agreement, created practical problems and growing sense that rights and aspirations of some parts of community are being undermined – says new legislation necessary as all other options within current EU mandate have been exhausted.
- Rejects a second Scottish independence referendum as she says a generation has not yet passed since the 2014 vote.
- Says she would build the M4 Relief Road that was ditched by the Welsh government in 2019.
- Criticised taxing of the tourist industry in Wales.
- Promised to change Treasury’s funding formula to get into places she considers left behind – giving particular reference to parts of Wales (especially the North) where she says phone signal and broadband can be poor and trains are not very fast.
- Wants to make changes to the Scotland Act to give MSPs in Holyrood the same full parliamentary privileges as MPs in the Commons – such as legal immunity from prosecution over statements made.
- Says she will do everything in power to hold devolved administration to account on failure to deliver quality public services – especially on health and education.
- Pledges to increase number of defense contracts given to Scottish firms.
- Wants to win Scottish ministers over on fracking and nuclear power.
Defense & Armed Forces
- Pledged to bring target of spending 2.5% GDP on defence forward to 2026 and create new target of 3% by 2030.
Liz Truss – Critiques
- Says tax rises brought in by Rishi Sunak would lead to a recession.
- Says although Rishi Sunak’s tax cuts are conditional on getting growth first – his corporation tax rises are contractionary.
- Source close to team said Sunak’s policy of NHS fines for no-shows would hit those already worse-off and give doctors extra work.
- Insists her plans would start paying down UK debt in 3 years’ time in response to Sunak’s critiques of her tax cutting plans.
- Says that BREXIT referendum caused her to learn not to trust Treasury forecasts on economy.
- Liz Truss contrasted her comprehensive school education against Sunak’s fee-paying Winchester College.
- Believes Boris Johnson’s ‘mistakes’ should not have brought him down.
Sources
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