General Election 2024· Housing· Political parties and elections Home truths Putting housing policy in context for the 2024 general election 19 June 2024 by Camron Aref-Adib and Lindsay Judge and Felicia Odamtten and Cara Pacitti The housing offers from both main parties for the 2024 general election are similar in many respects, suggesting that the ‘penny has dropped’ when it comes to boosting housing supply, supporting would-be homeowners, and improving the energy efficiency of our country’s housing stock. As well as a broad consensus forming around some housing policy areas, … Continued READ MORE
General Election 2024· Tax· Welfare· Political parties and elections Growing for gold? Analysing the tax and spend package of the 2024 Labour Manifesto 14 June 2024 by Molly Broome and Nye Cominetti and Emily Fry and Tara Goatley and Charlie McCurdy and Simon Pittaway and Hannah Slaughter and James Smith and Lalitha Try In launching its manifesto, the Labour Party put the emphasis on efforts to boost growth. But more eye-catching were promises of some of the biggest changes to the labour market in a generation, with the aim of improving the quality of work. Proposals here included new employment rights, tougher labour-market enforcement, and an innovative approach … Continued READ MORE
General Election 2024· Tax· Welfare· Political parties and elections The narrow path to NICs cuts Analysing the tax and spend package of the 2024 Conservative Manifesto 12 June 2024 by Camron Aref-Adib and Emma Beale and Molly Broome and Lindsay Judge and Charlie McCurdy and Louise Murphy and Felicia Odamtten and Simon Pittaway and James Smith and Lalitha Try The launch of the Conservative manifesto is a big moment in this election campaign. The strategy here was clear: treble down on National Insurance (NI) rate cuts. The continued focus on NI is welcome, at least compared to the alternatives, and delivers significant cuts in tax for some, with the proposed 2p reduction delivering a … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Poll Position How intergenerational voting intentions have changed since the 2019 General Election 7 February 2024 by Camron Aref-Adib and Sophie Hale The elections in 2017 and 2019 crystallised a trend that had been building over this century: age became the central fault line in British politics. But those were not normal elections: Brexit loomed large, an issue with distinctly age-divided views. This note investigates where we are now, picking out five big intergenerational shifts that have occurred since the last general election. READ MORE
Monetary policy· Economy and public finances· Tax· Macroeconomic policy· Political parties and elections Talking tax What’s been said and what’s gone unsaid in the Conservative leadership election? 26 July 2022 by Torsten Bell and Adam Corlett Elections are rarely entirely about a single issue, but there are exceptions. Brexit in the 2019 general election stands out, and today tax cuts totally dominate the 2022 Conservative leadership election. Judging by last night’s TV debate, the contest is staying that way, with little discussion of the huge questions facing the country, from the … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Cities and regions· Political parties and elections Painting the towns blue Demography, economy and living standards in the political geographies emerging from the 2019 General Election 12 February 2020 by Charlie McCurdy and Laura Gardiner and Maja Gustafsson and Karl Handscomb This report provides an audit of the demography, economy and living standards of what we term the ‘Blue Wall’: the 50 seats that were gained by the Conservatives from Labour in the North East and West, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East and West Midlands, and Wales. We explore whether simplistic characterisations of the Blue … Continued READ MORE
Political parties and elections Election 2019 Our analysis to date 11 December 2019 During elections, political parties set out their vision and priorities for the country over the next five years. The Resolution Foundation has published a series of reports assessing the shape of the state, and exploring the main parties’ plans on housing, tax and spend, and fiscal policy. Read more using the links below, or download our … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Pensions & savings· Inequality & poverty· Wealth & assets· Political parties and elections Who owns all the pie? The size and distribution of Britain’s £14.6 trillion of wealth 5 December 2019 by George Bangham and Jack Leslie While incomes have stagnated over the past decade, our national wealth has continued to boom. Data released today put UK households collective wealth at £14.6 trillion. But that total is far from equally distributed: the richest 10 per cent of households own almost half of the nation’s wealth having benefitted most from the recent wealth … Continued READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Bridging divides? Analysing the 2019 general election from a generational perspective 4 December 2019 by Maja Gustafsson and Laura Gardiner This spotlight article looks at the 2019 general election from a generational perspective. Age has become increasingly important for party choice over recent decades, with the Brexit vote turbo-charging these differences. At the same time, Britain’s demographic divergence means that the average ages of constituencies are growing apart. Parties may be able to capitalise on … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Political parties and elections Streets apart An analysis of manifesto commitments on housing 2 December 2019 by Lindsay Judge Clear positions are one thing – but polarisation is another. While the former help us make informed choices at elections, the latter bodes ill for policy continuity over the long term. If there is one policy domain that particularly benefits from cross-party consensus it is housing, with its long lead-in times and decisions that are … Continued READ MORE
Fiscal policy· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Macroeconomic policy· Political parties and elections Playing by their own rules? We analyse whether the policy platforms announced by the main parties are consistent with their own fiscal rules 28 November 2019 by Richard Hughes and Jack Leslie and Cara Pacitti and James Smith Fiscal rules are crucial for the government’s stewardship of the public finances and framing its economic priorities. So it is welcome that the main parties have prioritised setting out the rules they would follow, with their announcements following to different degrees the approach recommended by earlier Resolution Foundation work. But fiscal rules are only useful … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Fiscal policy· Welfare· Political parties and elections The shifting shape of social security Charting the changing size and shape of the British welfare system 26 November 2019 by Laura Gardiner Voters face a stark choice in the 2019 election about the social security system they want. This report examines how the provision of social security in Britain has changed; the big trends that current social security policy needs to take account of; and the policy offer from our three main political parties. READ MORE
Economy and public finances· Political parties and elections Oven-ready, safety-first Assessing the Conservatives' 2019 manifesto 24 November 2019 by Torsten Bell Summary Brexit is happening, but big tax cuts aren’t. That’s the short version of the already fairly short Conservative Manifesto. This manifesto does not tell us much about what the Conservatives would do after 31st January 2020, but it does confirm the country faces a big choice in this election on the size of the … Continued READ MORE
Political parties and elections Doubling down on a bigger state Assessing Labour’s 2019 manifesto 22 November 2019 by Torsten Bell Summary Labour have doubled down on plans to increase the size of the state, and their ambitious spending pledges have been matched by ambitious revenue-raising plans. There is now a very big choice facing the country on the size of the state it wants, and how it should be funded. Their manifesto also builds on … Continued READ MORE
Fiscal policy· Economy and public finances· Political parties and elections The shape of things to come Charting the changing size and shape of the UK state 4 November 2019 by Matthew Whittaker This report marks the first in a series of pre-election pieces that focus on the fiscal backdrop to the vote. It takes a long-run view of the size and shape of government spending in the UK, and considers how things might change under the next government. READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Tax· Political parties and elections The huge Brexit Party tax cut for rich remain areas 16 September 2019 by Adam Corlett and Torsten Bell In this paper we examine the policy of abolishing inheritance tax, the new top priority announced by the Brexit Party. We find that the proposal would amount to an expensive giveaway to a tiny number of very wealthy households, largely living in the richest parts of the country and concentrated in remain voting constituencies. READ MORE
Housing· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections The millennial bug: public attitudes on the living standards of different generations 9 September 2017 by Hannah Shrimpton and Gideon Skinner and Suzanne Hall Drawing on a new quantitative survey of over 2,000 British adults and a qualitative workshop involving members of different generations, this report explores the extent to which intergenerational living standards challenges are reflected in public perceptions. READ MORE
Living standards· Welfare· Political parties and elections Still just about managing? Pre-election briefing on the main political parties’ welfare policies 21 May 2017 by David Finch Our pre-election series of briefing notes have so far centred on the main parties’ approaches to deficit reduction and to tax. To complete the fiscal ‘set’ we must also consider their take on welfare. This note explores future welfare challenges for an incoming government and examines the extent to which the differing party commitments might … Continued READ MORE
Tax· Political parties and elections A matter of tax: pre-election briefing on the main parties’ tax policies 16 May 2017 by Adam Corlett There is much that is unusual about the 2017 general election, from its surprise announcement to the dominance of a single issue – Brexit – on which the parties themselves remain split. Particularly remarkable is the extent to which the tax debate has so far focused more on options for tax rises rather than tax … Continued READ MORE
Public spending· Economy and public finances· Political parties and elections The deficit the election forgot? Pre-election briefing on the main parties’ fiscal positions 11 May 2017 by Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker While the deficit remains in place, it is heading back to the sort of level relative to the size of the economy that past generations have been comfortable with. With the process of fiscal consolidation dominating so much of the political discourse in recent years it’s unlikely that many voters will be lamenting a dialling … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Economy and public finances· Political parties and elections In the swing of things: what does Donald Trump’s victory tell us about America? 18 November 2016 by Daniel Tomlinson and Stephen Clarke Post-election analysis has highlighted the importance of demographic, economic and cultural factors in the US election result. In this slide pack we consider why different parts of America voted as they did. We look across 93 per cent (2,932 of 3,143) of US counties spread across 46 states including the 11 battleground states. We test … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Living standards· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Votey McVoteface: Understanding the growing turnout gap between the generations 23 September 2016 by Laura Gardiner Renewing the intergenerational contract relies on broad engagement in the democratic process across the generations. This is not least the case because any new policy agenda will require public support, in order for democratically-elected politicians to pursue it. In this light, the generational turnout gap that has opened up since the mid-1990s – and was … Continued READ MORE
Brexit & trade· Economic growth· Political parties and elections The Importance of Place: explaining the characteristics underpinning the Brexit vote across different parts of the UK 15 July 2016 by Stephen Clarke and Matthew Whittaker Post-referendum analysis has highlighted the importance of demographic, economic and cultural factors on individuals’ vote. In this note, we consider the importance of place; highlighting the extent to which those same factors matter across 378 of Britain’s 380 local authorities. We test the strength of the relationship between these different factors and the vote while holding … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Tax· Political parties and elections Time for revision: why the Chancellor needs to look again at his plans for tax cuts in the Budget 14 March 2016 by Stephen Clarke and David Finch and Matthew Whittaker This briefing note considers possible tax cuts that could feature in the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget, and looks at how these policy choices can be made in a way that better benefits lower earners. READ MORE
Living standards· Political parties and elections 2015 – The living standards election? 29 April 2013 The electorate is broadly split over whether, come the next general election, it will still be possible for the government of the day to ensure steadily rising living standards. This analysis, ‘2015- the living standards election?’, gives a unique insight into what voters think that politicians can – and can’t – promise to achieve at … Continued READ MORE
