New leader must cut taxes, grassroots urge

Conservative Policy Forum puts tax in the top three priority policy areas with cost of living and Brexit

CUTTING taxes should be a top priority for Boris Johnson’s successor, according to the Conservative Party’s official grassroots think tank.

In a finding that appears to put Rishi Sunak’s position on tax at odds with the party’s membership, a survey by the Conservative Policy Forum identified tax cuts as one of three policy areas the next leader should prioritise, along with the cost of living and “completing Brexit”.

Separately, in focus groups carried out by the Public First policy research agency last week, Tory members set out the rationale behind their desire for tax cuts, with one retiree in Surrey insisting that Margaret Thatcher showed that “reducing tax does grow the economy”.

Members interviewed as part of two groups in Surrey and Derby also said they wanted to hear more about “positive” developments on Brexit; warned that the Tories must be seen to deliver on their levelling-up pledges or risk losing the next election; and called for firm action on crime and immigration.

The survey of 3,325 Conservative Policy Forum members found that “resisting the left’s ‘woke’ agenda” is also seen by activists as a priority for the next prime minister. The disclosure may cause disquiet in Penny Mordaunt’s campaign, amid her attempts to shrug off claims by rival camps that she has advocated “woke” ideas and policies.

Mr Sunak increased National Insurance and resisted pressure to cut income tax while chancellor. His leadership pitch is also centred around the insistence that he would wait for public finances to improve before cutting taxes. Last week he said: “I will get taxes down in this parliament, but I’m going to do so responsibly. I don’t cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes.”

By contrast, his rivals Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and Tom Tugendhat, the foreign affairs committee chairman, have pledged cuts including a reversal of the National Insurance rise.

In the Public First focus group in Surrey, a Conservative stronghold, members advocated tax cuts – with some dismissing suggestions that the books should be balanced before such steps are taken. A male retired manager in his 60s said: “Having been around in the 1970s and 1980s I can genuinely say that reducing tax does grow the economy. I don’t think it’s beyond the wit of man to reduce taxes and expect more tax receipts to come in because people are actually thinking it’s now worth my while to go out there.”

A retired director said that the Government “has to get people back to work and make work profitable”, while an estate manager in his 30s added: “The Government was due to knock a penny off income tax in 2024, before the election. A year or 18 months earlier, when people are struggling, I think is a good thing.”

Some members in the Derby group were more cautious about the scale of tax cuts that should be implemented now.

One female, middle-aged logistics manager said: “I am personally in favour of some levels of tax cuts without being ridiculous and putting us straight back into the austerity times … If no one wants to go out and spend, everything will shut and it will be like Covid again.”

A retired financial adviser in Derby suggested: “The threshold for tax could go right up… probably £20,000 would be a good starting point.”

Ed Shackle, the Public First consultant who moderated the groups, said: “Candidates relying on warm words and careful positioning should beware: activists know what policies they want on crime and immigration and they want a proper commitment to levelling up the country.

“At present, few activists know anything about what candidates actually think and they need to fix this fast.”

The Conservative Policy Forum, which is run by activists, said: “Since the Prime Minister announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative & Unionist Party, some 3,325 CPF Members have identified what they want to see from the new party leader.

“The top three policy challenges or commitments they think the Party’s next leader most needs to prioritise are the cost of living, cutting taxes and completing Brexit (including sorting the Northern Ireland protocol).”

Addressing members’ concerns about the rising cost of living, Mr Sunak is likely to highlight policies that he announced as chancellor, including council tax rebates worth £150, and plans to give all households £200 off their energy bills from October.

‘If no one wants to go out and spend, everything will shut and it will be like Covid again’