What We Know So Far About the 4th July General Election
On Wednesday, 22nd May, Prime Minister Sunak called a snap general election. With voting taking place on 4th July we can expect to hear a lot from all key parties in the coming weeks in regards to their manifest.
The election was called earlier than many expected, likely led by the fact the last quarter saw the lowest levels of inflation and immigration for some time.
With polling suggesting a landslide victory for Labour, at Ward Goodman we are now waiting with anticipation for the political parties to publish their manifestos, to extract from them any further plans and policies that could impact our clients, but this is what we know so far from Labour and the Conservatives.
- Labour does not plan to raise income tax or corporation tax on company profits. They do plan to tax the overseas income of Britons who claim non-domiciled status. They have also said they would charge VAT on private school fees.
- Jeremy Hunt of the Conservatives has already accounted for intentions to cut public spending.
- Conversely, Labour has promised to improve public services and investment in the infrastructure of the country.
- Labour has dropped its original plan for a green investment to the value of 28 billion pounds.
- Labour wants to decarbonise the country’s power by 2030, whereas the Conservatives’ timeline for this is by 2035.
- Rishi Sunak has said he remains committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, although did delay a planned ban on sales of new petrol cars.
- Keir Starmer has said he will not take Britain back into the European single market or customs union, but does want to improve the country’s partnership with EU.
- The Conservatives have not achieved the goal they set before the 2019 election of building 300,000 new homes per year in England.
- Labour plans to address zero-hour contracts and work on more protection against dismissal for new employees.
We expect to hear a lot from all parties in the coming week, as well as questions from our clients looking for advice on anything they could be doing ahead of the general election and a possible new government or ways to prepare. Although an emergency budget is not a certainty, if we consider the current economic conditions, the state of the public finances, potential changes in fiscal policies, together with any election promises and potential market reactions, one could be on the cards so it’s an ideal time to consider your financial situation for your personal finances as well as businesses.
If you’re not yet working with our team and curious how we can help with a range of services, contact us online, or at one of our three offices.