Badenoch pledges to abolish inheritance tax on family homes in Tory conference speech

Kemi Badenoch has pledged to abolish inheritance tax on family homes and let couples pass on an additional £1 million without incurring the levy if the Conservatives win power, turning her closing conference speech into the party’s clearest tax offer yet Reuters.

Speaking on the final day of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Wednesday, the Tory leader put tax cuts and economic growth at the heart of her address, framing the next election as a “battle for the soul of this nation” and contrasting her vision with Labour’s under Prime Minister Andy Burnham Reuters.

She said her long-term ambition was to abolish inheritance tax altogether once the government could afford it. The levy is currently charged at 40 per cent on estates worth more than £325,000, rising to a £500,000 threshold where a home passes to a direct descendant Reuters. “I believe the people who work hard and save should be rewarded for that effort,” she said.

Polling suggests the pledge could land well: inheritance tax is regularly named Britain’s most disliked levy, even though only about 5 per cent of wealthy estates pay it Reuters. The Conservatives now sit third in opinion polls after years of political chaos following the 2016 Brexit vote.

Badenoch admitted there was “still a lot of work to do” to restore public trust in her party. The pledge moves the Conservatives beyond Sunday’s hint, when she had declined to confirm any policy change ahead of the speech Flip News.