Voters back Labour's triple lock change 44% to 24% in a Freshwater Strategy poll
Freshwater Strategy polling for City AM finds 44% back Labour's triple lock change and 55% back the Tory inheritance tax pledge. Both are party pledges for the next election, and the 1,235-voter poll was fielded on 9 to 11 October 2026.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+18
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Badenoch's future homes pledge swaps a £5,000-£8,000 build cost for a retrofit above £20,000
Kemi Badenoch would scrap the future homes standard, whose energy measures cost £5,000-£8,000 a home at build but over £20,000 to retrofit. Buyers of homes built without them would carry that gap, in a country the Guardian says needs about 6m new homes.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives55
- Confidence30
Kemi Badenoch says a Conservative government would end inheritance tax on family homes and let couples leave an extra £1m tax-free. For owner-operators planning succession, it stays an opposition promise until the party wins power and passes it into law.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 44%
- Investor
- Investor 46%
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives78
- Confidence66
Skills minister denies the £25bn employer tax rise is driving youth unemployment
Skills minister Jacqui Smith says the £25bn employer tax rise is not the main driver of youth unemployment, now at 16.4%. Her offer to employers is £2,000 per young apprentice at small firms, with the payroll tax on 21- to 24-year-olds left as it is.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives75
- Confidence50
Billionaires worth about $160 billion have left Britain or cut their ties in two years, by Bloomberg's count, more than those still in its index hold. The figure is net worth, not cash sent abroad, so the tax effect it can show is on who lives where and when they left.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 15%
- Operator
- Operator 27%
- Investor
- Investor 58%
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives40
- Confidence55
Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith wants Natural England and the Environment Agency abolished in a package the Tories say cuts up to £50,000 off a new home. Until an election, firms still plan against the government's rules and its 28 October Budget.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 12%
- Operator
- Operator 53%
- Investor
- Investor 35%
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives70
- Confidence55
Kemi Badenoch would cut UK aid from £9bn to £1bn a year, below the more than £1.6bn Britain has already committed to the UN, World Bank and health funds. Those settlements run for several years, so a Conservative government would have to break them or overshoot its own cap.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives65
- Confidence55
Griffith makes his pledge to scrap a tax every budget depend on a savings rule
Andrew Griffith said a Tory government would aim to scrap at least one tax every budget and would abolish the £2m-plus mansion tax due in 2028. The specific taxes he named, including a packaging scheme that firms pay for, are firmer promises than the per-budget goal, which he made conditional on affordability.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Third-placed Conservatives would fold the Environment Agency and Natural England into Defra
Tory shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith will pledge to scrap the Environment Agency and Natural England and replace two developer obligations with one levy. With the party polling third, the pledges bind no one yet but name the rules a Conservative government would remove.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives70
- Confidence50