General election 2024: who should I vote for? Three main policies from each party explained

We know hundreds of thousands of voters are still yet decide who to place their faith in tomorrow. Is Rishi Sunak the right man to continue the Tories’ 14 years in power or can Keir Starmer bring the change that some people crave? Do you care about an immigration crackdown or want faster action against climate change?

To help any undecided voters make up their minds, we have analysed the three key policies that each party is promising. Here’s everything you need to know.

Conservative Party

A legal limit on migration: The Conservative Party has pledged to put a legal cap on migration and only allowing a fixed number of family and work visas. The Conservatives claim that this will protect public services. They have not put a specific number in their manifesto, instead saying the Migration Advisory Committee would decide this after the election. Notably this is a policy that Rishi Sunak blocked several times while Prime Minister, despite pressure from Tory backbenchers.

Tax help for the self-employed: If you’ve heard anything from Sunak this campaign, it’s most likely been about tax. The Conservatives have stated in their manifesto that they plan to scrap National Insurance contributions for the self-employed. Currently those people pay 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above £50,270. The cut is promised by the end of next Parliament (2029), and will cost £2.6bn a year.

National service for 18-year-olds: The first big announcement of the campaign was a policy to give reinstate national service, which received praise and derision in equal measure. This would see 18-year-olds either do a year-long placement in the Armed Forces, or spend one weekend every month volunteering with a public service like the NHS or the fire brigade. Sunak said that the 30,000 teenagers who join the army will have applied for that position, and so it does not count as conscription. People have questioned whether the £2.5bn scheme is good value for money and whether the army wants to have 30,000 fresh-faced teenagers join every year?

Labour

More NHS appointments: Labour is planning to add 40,000 more NHS appointments and operations every in England, which would mean two million extra a year. The party’s aim is to reduce the waiting list, which has been at a record level in recent years. It claims that it will fund this by reducing non-dom tax loopholes, however experts have questioned whether the party needs to put more funding into the NHS.

Changing non-dom tax status for the wealthy: Amongst various other plans to raise £8bn for public services, including clamping down on tax avoidance and applying VAT to private school fees, Labour wants to change the rules for non-doms. These are people who earn money in the UK, but live abroad for much of the year so do not pay the full rate of tax. Starmer plans to scrap the transition-relief for foreign income, and make all foreign assets held in a trust within the UK liable for inheritance tax. This was a policy that Rishi Sunak copied off Labour in the last Budget, however Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says her party will go further.

Building 300,000 homes a year: Labour has promised to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years, but this is an ambitious goal. The last time England saw that many homes completed was in 1969, when new council housing contributed 45% of the total. On average in the last decade, only 152,000 houses have been completed a year. Labour says it will reform planning regulations, although this will take time.

Liberal Democrats

Free personal care: The Liberal Democrat party has announced ambitious plans to offer free personal care to all who need it, with Ed Davey’s party becoming the first to have a dedicated chapter in its manifesto on care. This would help elderly people stay in their homes for longer, and alleviate pressure on the NHS. The Lib Dems claim they can fund this by removing tax breaks for big banks.

Proportional representation: The Liberal Democrats have always been in favour of reforming the voting system, and plan to introduce proportional representation via the single transferable vote which is used in Northern Ireland. However, the 2011 referendum on proportional representation only had a turnout of 42.2%, and 67.9% of those voted no, showing there may not be much appetite for change.

Rejoin the European single market: The party has said it wants to rebuild the relationship with our European partners, which would include restoring Erasmus and bringing in a Youth Mobility Scheme, to allow young people to travel and work freely. The manifesto says: “Finally, once ties of trust and friendship have been renewed, and the damage the Conservatives have caused to trade between the UK and EU has begun to be repaired, we would aim to place the UK-EU relationship on a more formal and stable footing by seeking to join the Single Market.” This would certainly be controversial following the Brexit referendum.

The Green Party

Wealth tax: The Green Party plans to introduce a wealth tax on assets over £10 million, which it claims would raise £15bn a year for the NHS. However experts have questioned whether people affected may start to move their money abroad.

Scrap university tuition fees: The Greens have said they would fully fund each university student and scrap tuition fees. They have also said they would abolish Ofsted and scrap “high-stakes testing” in schools.

Net Zero by 2040: Green by name, green by nature. The party wants to reach Net Zero by 2040, and they also want to phase out nuclear power, which is currently providing around 15% of the UK’s electricity. The Greens say want to achieve this goal via an expansion of renewable energy, of offshore and onshore wind farms and solar.

Reform UK

Stop ‘non-essential’ immigration: Reform UK is heavily focused on immigration, and plan to freeze non-essential immigration, with exceptions made only for healthcare. They also want to ban students from bringing children and partners to the UK. Economists have warned that this policy could have a negative impact on the economy and push up inflation.

Scrap Net Zero: Reform has claimed that scrapping Net Zero and related subsidies would save £30bn a year. Richard Tice the party’s chairman, has said the target makes “zero difference to climate change”. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change however says that reaching net zero emissions is the only way to protect the planet.

Ban ‘transgender ideology’ in schools: Reform claims that divisive, “woke” ideology is a problem in schools. It wants to ban “transgender ideology”, meaning schools would have to inform parents about their children if they are questioning their gender identity. It also wants to ban social transitioning and students changing their pronouns in schools. Campaign groups say it is important for trans children to have rights and privacy.

Scottish National Party

Boost NHS funding: The Scottish National Party is calling for the next UK government to boost NHS spending by £10bn a year, with £1.6bn of this going to Scotland. The manifesto also says it wants to stop further privatisation.

Ceasefire in Gaza and scrap Trident: The SNP manifesto says it wants Westminster to push for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Both Labour and the Conservatives have also called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire. The nationalists also want to scrap Trident, the UK’s nuclear deterrent which is based in Scotland.

Scottish independence: The SNP has said that if it wins a majority of Scottish seats, “it will be empowered to begin immediate negotiations with the UK Government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country”. This is despite the referendum in 2014 narrowly voting for Scotland to remain part of the union. When asked by the BBC, leader John Swinney wouldn’t say if a unionist majority would end the SNP’s campaign for independence.

Plaid Cymru

Welsh independence: The party has claimed that Welsh independence would be “best way to deliver real fairness and ambition for Wales”. Experts have said that this is a “greater economic leap” than Scotland.

Funding for 500 more GPs: Plaid Cymru has pledged to recruit 500 extra GPs, with concerns that services in Wales are struggling to cope.

HS2 funding: The Welsh nationalists have pledged to reclaim £4 billion of funds that were supposed to go to HS2. The high-speed rail plan, which Sunak scrapped, was categorised as an England and Wales project due to devolution. Currently Wales is being given £1 billion of funding to electrify the North Wales line, however Plaid wants more funds from HS2.