General Election 2024: Seven things we have learned from the parties’ manifestos

Posted on by Asli Atay BudakGeorge Williams

Photo of a sign for the General Election and Big Ben/Houses of Parliament. © Adobe Stock

With all of the parties now having published their election manifestos, or for Reform, their contract, it is now possible to assess how their employment related policies compare.

The period since the last General Election in 2019 has been particularly turbulent for the UK. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way many people work, making hybrid and flexible arrangements commonplace. Following the pandemic, we have seen rising levels of economic inactivity, mainly due to long-term illness and caring responsibilities, and employers have been facing significant staff shortages and recruitment issues. The cost of living crisis has left millions of households struggling to cope with rising living expenses. And all of this takes place against the backdrop of long-term wage stagnation, with the Resolution Foundation reporting that average wages have only increased by £16 per week in real terms then they were at the time of 2010 election.

The differing policy commitments on offer by the UK’s main political parties provide a key insight into their differing analysis of the UK labour market, and of course, which parts of the electorate they are looking to win over at the ballot box.

Image of each political parties manifesto commitments on the labour market

1. The Conservative’s manifesto focusses on tax cuts but is an outlier on employment focussed reforms

In 2019, the Conservative manifesto was notable for its comprehensive employment policies. Drawing on the findings of the Taylor Review, the Tories committed to bringing forward a new Employment Bill. While the Bill was ultimately not brought forward, a series of reforms were introduced in the last Parliament, including the right to request flexible hours and predictable terms and conditions of work.

The Conservatives have already announced their intention to deliver sweeping changes to welfare in the next Parliament, as part of their Back to Work Programme – including a mix of new, tailored employment support programmes, and substantial reforms to the Work Capability Assessment – all aimed at reducing the number of people who are economically inactive.

The Conservative manifesto indicates the party believes it has already sufficiently reformed the UK labour market. Instead, they focus on supporting workers through the promise to cut tax – specifically the abolition of National Insurance for self-employed workers, and a further reduction in National Insurance for all workers to 6%.

2. Labour's New Deal at heart of manifesto, but what shape will it take in Government if elected?

While several question marks were raised over Labour’s commitment to its New Deal for Working People in the lead up to the General Election campaign, their manifesto confirmed that the core tenets of their newly rebadged ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ remain intact.

The Party is putting forward several bold ideas, including the introduction of Fair Pay Agreements in health and social care, and an expansion of day one worker rights and zero-hour contract reform.

However, across many areas significant detail is lacking. With the majority of proposals likely to be subject to significant consultation during any legislative process, it remains to be seen exactly how far-reaching Labour’s reforms will be should they form the next Government.

3. The Liberal Democrats are going big on Statutory Sick Pay

The need to reform Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) has been recognised by five of the seven major parties. However, it is the Liberal Democrats who have made some of the strongest proposals in this area.

Alongside committing to introduce a host of additional day one worker rights and other employment reforms, the Liberal Democrats used their manifesto to pledge to fix the ‘broken’ Statutory Sick Pay system by making it available to workers who earn less than £123 a week and making payments available from the first day of missed work.

The Liberal Democrats have also made the bold commitment to align the benefit with the National Minimum Wage – which would represent a substantial increase in the level of SSP on offer. The only other party to or which set out how much they want to see SSP increased is the Plaid Cymru, who have said it should be raised match Statutory Maternity Pay, which is below the National Minimum Wage.

The Liberal Democrats would also hold a consultation on how small employers could be supported with the cost of SSP.

4. The Green Party is pushing for major reforms of the minimum wage

Four of the seven major parties have each committed to further strengthen the National Minimum Wage.

The Greens arguably offer the most eye-catching policy with a pledge to increase the National Minimum Wage to £15 per hour. This outstrips the offers by Labour and the Liberal Democrats to reform the manner in which the rate is calculated, and the SNP which wants to see the minimum wage increased to match National Living Wage.

The Greens have said they would help smaller businesses offset the rise by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,000. The manifesto also included a commitment to mandate a maximum 10:1 pay ratio (the pay gap between top and lowest pay bands) for all private and public sector organisations.

Against a recent backdrop of recent high levels of inflation in the UK, the next Government may face challenges in introducing large increases to the National Minimum Wage or other more radical measures announced in the campaign when the new Parliament is formed.

5. Reform is looking to substantial tax reform to support workers and employers

As with the Conservative Party, Reform’s focus, when it comes to supporting workers, is through proposed tax cuts – although they have proposed significantly more radical reforms. One of Reform’s five core pledges is to ensure ‘good wages for a hard day’s work’ by almost doubling the current starting income tax threshold to £20,000.

The party has also pledged to introduce a series of employer focussed tax cuts too, to help support increased investment and recruitment. If elected, the party would reduce corporation tax and lift the minimum profit threshold to £100,000. Business Rates would be abolished for high street based SMEs, with the cost offset by a 4% online delivery tax for large multinationals. And ‘small entrepreneurs’ would be helped through a lifting of the VAT threshold to £150,000.

6. The SNP has made a big offer to parents

Two of the seven major parties are proposing to review or strengthen maternity and paternity leave in the new Parliament, with the SNP pledging to increase maternity leave to one year. In addition, pay would be set at 100% of average weekly earnings for the first 12 weeks, and then at 90% or £185, whichever is lower, for the subsequent 40 weeks. This is a substantial improvement on the current system where mothers are paid 90% of their weekly earnings for the first six weeks of maternity leave, and then 90% or £184.05, whichever is lower, for the remaining 33 weeks.

The party has also called for an increase of shared parental leave from 52 to 64 weeks. Under the proposal the additional 12 weeks to be the minimum taken by the father on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis, to encourage an increase in shared parental leave which has so far seen poor take up since being introduced.

7. Plaid Cymru backs universal basic income

Plaid Cymru’s manifesto includes a broad range of measures to support workers. Including legislation to tackle insecure work, paid bereavement and miscarriage leave, and outlawing fire and rehire.

But the manifesto also states the party’s support for one of the most ambitious reforms tabled by any of the major political parties in this campaign – the principle of a universal basic income (UBI), together with a pledge to support UBI pilots. Policy work in Wales to explore this intervention is already underway, with an ongoing project providing UBI to care leavers, which the Welsh Government plans to evaluate.

As is always the case with election manifestos the main parties often take an optimistic view of their costing. We recommend reading the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis on whether the manifestos add up. However, with the General Election just a week away, voters will soon have a chance to decide who will form the next Government.

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