Badenoch pledges to axe inheritance tax on family homes and double the tax-free threshold for couples
From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026 · last updated 8 October 2026.
Nearly 981,000 young people are currently not in education, employment or training — a 12-year high — with youth unemployment up 174,000 since Labour took office.
Kemi Badenoch told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham that under a Tory government nobody would pay inheritance tax on the family home. She also pledged to raise the combined tax-free threshold for couples by £1m, which she said would cut in half the share of families facing an inheritance tax bill. Badenoch called full abolition of the tax her ultimate ambition "as soon as we can afford it," but ruled out doing so immediately, citing commitments on defence, prisons and deficit reduction. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson hit back, saying "The Tories haven't changed."
Badenoch took direct aim at Burnham, calling him a "Paddington Bear prime minister" who wants "to live in the past."
She pitched the Tories as the "no-nonsense party" against the Reform "circus," saying the party has had an "export boom of drama queens going to Reform."
Rival parties accused Badenoch of putting the interests of the wealthy first, while Ireland has reportedly just cut its own inheritance tax as Burnham prepares to raise taxes in his first Budget.
