The Conservative Party is set to unveil a new policy today aimed at “rewarding work” by offering a £5,000 tax rebate to young people entering their first full-time job — a measure intended to help them save towards a deposit on their first home.
In a speech at the party’s conference in Manchester, shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride is expected to outline the proposal for a so-called “first-job bonus”. Under the plan, a portion of an individual’s National Insurance contributions would be redirected into a long-term savings account, helping to ease the path to home ownership.
The Conservatives say the initiative will be funded by £47bn in public spending cuts over five years, targeting areas such as welfare, the civil service, and the foreign aid budget. Sir Mel is expected to warn that there can be “no more pretending we can keep spending money we simply do not have.”
The announcement comes nearly a year after Kemi Badenoch was elected party leader. In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have faced significant political headwinds — including the growing challenge from Reform UK and a series of major defeats in local elections earlier this year.
As the party gathers in Manchester, it is hoping to reset the narrative and position itself as fiscally responsible and more competent on public spending than its rivals.
The proposals also arrive as the Labour government presses ahead with its own sweeping housing reforms, which aim to cut costs, reduce delays, and halve the number of failed property transactions. Ministers say the reforms could benefit hundreds of thousands of families and first-time buyers, in what is being described as the most significant overhaul of the housing market in decades.
In his conference speech on Monday, Sir Mel will say: “We must get on top of government spending.
“We cannot deliver stability unless we live within our means.
“We’re the only party that gets it. The only party that will stand up for fiscal responsibility.”
His proposals, aimed at delivering £47bn in public spending reductions over five years, include:
£23bn in welfare savings
£8bn by reducing the civil service headcount from 517,000 to 384,000 — the level seen in 2016
£7bn from cuts to the overseas aid budget
£3.5bn by ending the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers
£4bn by restricting benefits and access to social housing to UK nationals only
£1.6bn by scrapping green subsidies, including support for heat pumps and electric vehicles
The Conservative conference comes six weeks before chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget on 26 November.
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