Badenoch pledges inheritance tax cuts, rules out Reform pact

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pledged at her party’s conference in Birmingham on October 7 to exempt family homes from inheritance tax and let couples pass an additional £1 million to relatives tax-free if the Conservatives form a government. She also ruled out an electoral pact with Reform UK, setting out a policy and political message aimed at distinguishing her party from its rivals. Badenoch said the proposed inheritance-tax changes would reduce by more than half the number of families paying the levy. She described abolishing the tax on family homes as a commitment for a future Conservative government and said her longer-term ambition was to end inheritance tax altogether when the country could afford it. The proposals have not been enacted. Under current rules, inheritance tax is generally charged at 40% on estates above £325,000, with a higher threshold of £500,000 potentially applying when a home is left to direct descendants. Government data cited in one account indicated that 4.72% of deaths resulted in inheritance-tax charges.