Badenoch promises that no family will pay inheritance tax on their home, and attacks Reform over its 'standards'
Kemi Badenoch used her conference speech in Birmingham to promise that a Conservative government would remove inheritance tax from family homes and raise to £1 million the amount couples can leave tax-free. She said abolishing the tax altogether is an ambition for when it can be afforded. The party says the number of families paying it would fall by more than half. Rival parties said the plan prioritises the wealthier. She attacked Reform on standards, citing Nathan Gill, its jailed former Wales leader, and George Cottrell, a long-time associate of Nigel Farage, and said "Character, conduct, and standards matter." The Spectator, the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the BBC and the FT all covered the speech with sharply different verdicts.
The speech signals the Conservatives' bet: low tax for property-owning voters and a clear break with Reform. With Reform weakened by a police investigation, the Tories are now seeking to be second party. But promises made before the Budget, in a bond sell-off, will be tested against costings that the party has not published.
Nothing changes for any estate now. Inheritance tax currently applies above a threshold, with extra allowances for homes left to children; the plan is a pledge for a future government.
The plan answers a real grievance: ordinary families with a house in the South can be pulled into a tax meant for the very rich.
It gives most to those with property and costs billions, at the moment the gilt market is warning against unfunded promises.
Ask what it costs and what it is paid for with. The party has not published a costing, or said what it would cut or tax to pay. Until it does, a tax pledge made in the week of a 28-year gilt high is a promise with a price tag that has no number.
DailyDrop U.K. edition No. 3 · Morning · WED., OCT. 7, 2026