𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch has vowed to unleash the “dream of home ownership” for millions of Britons by axing stamp duty.

Hundreds of Tory faithfuls erupted with cheers, applause and standing ovations when the Conservative leader made the surprise announcement at her party’s annual conference in Manchester on Wednesday.

Her speech, packed with playful humour and personal sentiments, will have silenced any Tory leadership hopefuls eyeing the top spot in the Party.

A beaming Mrs Badenoch said: “Stamp Duty is a bad tax. It is an unConservative tax.

“The last Conservative Government cut stamp duty for thousands of homebuyers.

“But now we must go further, we must free up our housing market.

“Because a society where no one can afford to buy, or move, is a society where social mobility is dead.”

She told how scrapping the levy, if the Tories win the next general election, would “help achieve the dream of home ownership for millions”.

Mrs Badenoch, echoingMargaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy policy, added: “Home ownership should be a dream that’s open to everyone.

“Abolishing stamp duty on your home is a key to unlock a fairer and more aspirational society.”

Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp called Mrs Badenoch’s policy “brilliant and bold”.

Robert Colvile, director of the think tank Centre for Policy Studies, heaped praise on the Tory leader for promising to scrap “Britain’s worst tax”.

His view was echoed by Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, who said taxpayers will be relieved to “finally” hear a major political party pledge the full abolition of stamp duty.

Mrs Badenoch told the gathered Tories that she had looked at options for changing thresholds for stamp duty and decided it was not enough.

Stamp duty land tax brought in an estimated £13.9 billion in the last financial year but a large proportion of this is from additional homes and other buildings.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has estimated that abolishing stamp duty on primary residences will cost around £4.5 billion.

But the Conservatives said they had “cautiously” estimated that the policy would cost £9 billion because Chancellor Rachel Reeves was planning a significant increase in stamp duty.

The Party did not give a timeline for when this levy would be axed but insisted it would be a priority for a potential Tory government, and would come into force by the end of that parliament.

Mrs Badenoch said: “As the Conservative Party, we know who our people are. They are people who work hard. They are the people who save hard. They are the people who understand the importance of putting down roots. They are the people who make sacrifices today for a better life tomorrow. They do the right thing. Our people are the Brits who want to get ahead in life.

“At the heart of a Conservative Britain is a country where people who wish to own their own home can. I remember the joy when I got the first set of keys to my first flat, the excitement of opening my own front door for the first time, the smell of the fresh paint. I remember it just like it was yesterday. I want everyone in the country to have that feeling.”

She added: “We Conservatives believe that owning your own home gives you a real stake in our society, a place in your community, but our housing market is not working as it should. “There is a big barrier that keeps getting in our way. That barrier, conference, is the tax you have to pay when you buy your home.”

Mrs Badenoch’s nearly hour-long speech was filled with policy announcements, including banning doctors from taking strike action.

In her speech to the conference, she declared “enough is enough”.

“In the NHS, industrial action has kept waiting lists high for far too long,” she said.

Mrs Badenoch added: “We will ban doctors from going on strike.”

She also spoke about the Tories’ new golden economic rule: that half the cash from any cuts will go towards bringing down the deficit.

She went on to accuse other party leaders of “shaking the same magic money tree”.

In an attack on her opponents, she took aim at Reform, the Liberal Democrats and Labour.

The Conservative leader said: “Last year, the public voted for change, but all they have been given is change for the worse.

“And because they are still angry with us, parties that in normal times will never be seen as a serious option for government are gaining ground, making promises they will never be able to keep.

“Let’s look at what’s on offer out there for all those disappointed by Labour.

“Reform, promising free beer tomorrow; Jeremy Corbyn, promising free jam; Lib Dems, promising free lettuce; all of them promising more spending, blowing up the public finances.

“Whether it’s Starmer, Farage, Corbyn or Davey, all these men are shaking the same magic money tree, following the same failed playbook, no plans for growth, no honesty about the scale of the challenges.

“And it always leads to the same result, more government, more taxes, more debt.”

Mrs Badenoch repeated promises to abolish VAT on private schools, reverse changes to inheritance tax for farms and scrapping a carbon tax.

Along with other spending promises made during the conference, the Conservatives estimated that these would cost a total of £21.1 billion, compared with £47 billion of savings shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said he had identified in his own conference speech on Monday.

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake before the speech said he expected the announcements from the party conference would “move the needle in terms of the polls”.

He said: “I think those messages have been very well received this week by our members, very optimistic view of where we are today from our members and indeed the future.

“So yeah, we expect things to improve in terms of our political fortunes.”

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has surged in polls, with many suggesting he is on course to be the UK’s next Prime Minister.

Meanwhile Sir Keir has become the most unpopular British leader on record.

An Ipsos survey found just 13% of voters are satisfied with the Labour leader, while 79% are unsatisfied.

Labour chair Anna Turley MP said: “Kemi Badenoch is in complete denial. The public saw the Tories’ disastrous blueprint for Britain across their 14 years of failure in government – and the Conservatives still won’t apologise for the mess they left.

“Kemi Badenoch set herself a new ‘golden economic rule’ today and broke it immediately. It’s the same old Tories, with the same old policies without a plan. They didn’t work then and you can’t trust them now.

“Only Labour can renew Britain. Real wages have grown more in the first ten months of this Labour Government than in the first ten years under the Tories. Only Labour can be trusted to grow our economy, secure our borders, and make working people better off.”