2024 manifesto · published 10 June 2024

What did Liberal Democrats propose in 2024?

Additional health, care, housing and education spending, financed through tax changes and borrowing for investment. The costings distinguish ongoing spending from capital.

Evidence last reviewed 11 October 2026

The same seven issues and source fields are reviewed for all seven selected parties. This is a June 2024 Westminster-election baseline, not a statement of current policy or a forecast. Northern Ireland parties and later devolved-election manifestos are outside this comparison.

Seven issues, the same questions

These are summaries of proposals, not quotations or assessments of whether they were delivered. Open each issue for its mechanism, original estimates, timing and source.

Housing

Increase building of new homes to 380,000 a year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes a year. Immediately ban no-fault evictions, make three-year tenancies the default, create a national register of licensed landlords, let councils end Right to Buy, and abolish residential leaseholds.

Scope: The 380,000 target is stated as 'across the UK'; the manifesto says its proposals on devolved matters apply to England only, and some measures (e.g. Neighbourhood Planning) are stated for England.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Ten new garden cities and community-led development; councils able to buy land at current use value by reforming the Land Compensation Act 1961; 'use-it-or-lose-it' planning permission; councils setting their own planning fees; a Rent to Own model for social housing with ownership after 30 years.
Published cost
Costings document: £6.2 billion of public investment to support the 150,000 social homes a year target and gigabit broadband (one combined figure), within an additional £19.7 billion a year on average over the next Parliament.
Funding
Not stated
Timing
No-fault evictions banned and Vagrancy Act scrapped 'immediately'; rough sleeping ended 'within the next Parliament'. No date given for reaching 380,000 homes a year.
What remains unclear
The documents do not say when 380,000 homes a year would be reached or how the £6.2 billion is split between social housing and broadband.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 71-73 (printed 71-73), devolution note PDF p. 116; Costings PDF p. 8 (printed 7)

Original costings document

NHS

Give everyone the right to see a GP or the most appropriate practice staff member within seven days, or within 24 hours if urgent, with 8,000 more full-time equivalent GPs. Guarantee NHS dentist access for urgent and emergency care, open mental health hubs for young people in every community, and guarantee 100% of patients start cancer treatment within 62 days of urgent referral.

Scope: England (devolved policy area); the manifesto states its proposals on devolved matters apply to England only.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Increase full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000, half through recruitment and half through retention; give more prescribing rights to pharmacists, nurse practitioners and paramedics; fix the NHS dental contract; increase staffed hospital beds; increase the Public Health Grant; a ten-year staff retention plan and an independent pay review body.
Published cost
Costings document: £8,350m in 2028-29 for 'End the crisis in the NHS and social care' (one line covering NHS and social care, including free personal care), plus £1.1 billion of public investment in hospitals and other NHS infrastructure and equipment.
Funding
No line-by-line funding; the costings document sets total revenue measures (e.g. bank taxes, capital gains tax reform) against total spending. The manifesto states a new levy on tobacco company profits would help fund healthcare and smoking cessation services.
Timing
No delivery dates given; a ten-year staff retention plan and a ten-year plan for the hospital and primary care estate are proposed. Costings figure is for 2028-29.
What remains unclear
IFS: it is not clear what the £8.4 billion for health and social care in England is additional to.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 30-35 (printed 30-35), devolution note PDF p. 116; Costings PDF p. 3-4 and p. 8 (printed 2-3 and 7)

Original costings documentIFS scrutiny of this programme

Tax and spending

Fund the manifesto without raising income tax, national insurance contributions or VAT. Reverse cuts to bank taxes, reform capital gains tax, impose a windfall tax on oil and gas profits, raise the Digital Services Tax from 2% to 6%, and introduce a 4% tax on share buybacks.

Scope: UK-wide (UK taxes; jurisdiction not stated explicitly). Costings include £2,890m additional funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Restore Bank Surcharge and Bank Levy revenues to 2016 levels in real terms; base capital gains tax rates solely on gains while raising the allowance from £3,000 to £5,000; invest an extra £1 billion a year in HMRC to narrow the £36 billion tax gap; halve consultancy spending. Fiscal aim: debt falling as a share of the economy and day-to-day spending not exceeding tax revenue.
Published cost
Costings document: current spending of £26,800m in 2028-29 (net of £4,290m asylum and £630m consultancy savings), plus additional public investment of £19.7 billion a year on average over the next Parliament.
Funding
Costings document: revenue of £26,870m in 2028-29, including tax avoidance and evasion £7,230m, capital gains tax reform £5,210m, bank taxes £4,250m, aviation taxes £3,620m, oil and gas windfall tax £2,120m and Digital Services Tax £2,090m.
Timing
Costings are for 2028-29; income tax cuts via a higher personal allowance only 'when the public finances allow'.
What remains unclear
IFS: the risks to the claimed £27 billion a year are on the downside, and the oil and gas windfall tax would raise revenue only temporarily.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 12 and 14 (printed 12, 14); Costings PDF p. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 (printed 1, 2, 5, 6, 7)

Original costings documentIFS scrutiny of this programme

Work

Create a 'dependent contractor' employment status, set a 20% higher minimum wage for zero-hours workers at times of normal demand, and give zero-hours and agency workers a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months. Establish a Worker Protection Enforcement Authority and reform Statutory Sick Pay.

Scope: Not specified in the documents; presented as UK policy.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Dependent contractors would get minimum earnings, sick pay and holiday entitlement; burden of proof on employment status shifts to employers in tribunals; Statutory Sick Pay extended to those earning under £123 a week, aligned with the National Minimum Wage and paid from day one; an independent review of a genuine living wage; lower apprentice rate scrapped; a new right to flexible working.
Published cost
Costings document lists 'Other' at £100m in 2028-29, which includes supporting small employers with Statutory Sick Pay costs alongside three unrelated items; no other cost published for these measures.
Funding
Not stated
Timing
Not stated
What remains unclear
The documents do not say how the 20% zero-hours premium would be set or enforced, or what share of the £100m relates to sick pay support.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 21-22 (printed 21-22) and p. 94 (printed 94); Costings PDF p. 3 and 5 (printed 2 and 4)

Original costings document

Education

Put a qualified mental health professional in every primary and secondary school, increase school and college funding per pupil above inflation every year, and introduce a Tutoring Guarantee for disadvantaged pupils. Give disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds five extra free hours, triple the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1,000 a year, reinstate maintenance grants, and create £5,000 Lifelong Skills Grants.

Scope: England (devolved policy area); the manifesto states its proposals on devolved matters apply to England only.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Extra local authority funding to reduce what schools pay towards Education, Health and Care Plans; a National Body for SEND for very high needs; redirect capital from new free schools to repairs; pay all trainee teachers; a Young People's Premium for disadvantaged 16-18-year-olds; free school meals for all children in poverty.
Published cost
Costings document, 2028-29: schools £2,170m; early years and childcare £2,960m (includes parental pay items); higher education and lifelong learning £1,500m; plus £1.9 billion of public investment in new school buildings and repairs.
Funding
Mental health professionals funded by increasing the Digital Services Tax (costed at £2,090m in 2028-29); £0.9 billion of the school capital funded by redirecting capital for new free schools.
Timing
Maintenance grants reinstated 'immediately'; per-pupil funding rise 'every year'; extra hours for two-year-olds and raising grants to £10,000 only 'when the public finances allow'.
What remains unclear
The documents do not state by how much per-pupil funding would rise above inflation or when the Tutoring Guarantee would begin.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 41-45 (printed 41-45), devolution note PDF p. 116; Costings PDF p. 3, 4, 6, 8 (printed 2, 3, 5, 7)

Original costings document

Energy

A ten-year emergency home upgrade programme starting with free insulation and heat pumps for those on low incomes, and invest so that 90% of the UK's electricity comes from renewables by 2030. Expand rooftop solar incentives, require new homes to be zero-carbon, and reach net zero by 2045 at the latest.

Scope: The 90% renewables target is stated for the UK; home upgrade and building standard measures fall in devolved areas, where the manifesto says its proposals apply to England only.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
Home Energy Upgrade programme with a central role for local authorities; a social tariff; decoupling electricity prices from wholesale gas; landlords to reach EPC C by 2028; removing restrictions on new solar and wind; keeping the fracking ban and banning new coal mines; investment in grid, storage and interconnectors.
Published cost
Costings document: £8.4 billion of public investment to tackle climate change and protect the natural environment (covering home upgrades, renewables, grid and storage, and habitats and tree planting), within £19.7 billion a year on average over the next Parliament.
Funding
Not stated for the £8.4 billion. The manifesto links a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas profits (costed at £2,120m in 2028-29) to help with energy bills.
Timing
Ten-year upgrade programme; 90% renewable electricity by 2030; EPC C for landlords by 2028; zero-carbon standard for new homes 'immediately'; net zero by 2045.
What remains unclear
The £8.4 billion is not split between energy and nature measures, and the 'one-off' windfall tax is shown as raising revenue in 2028-29 without explanation.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 23-27 (printed 23-27), devolution note PDF p. 116; Costings PDF p. 6 and 8 (printed 5 and 7)

Original costings document

Immigration

End the Hostile Environment, scrap the Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda scheme, and provide safe and legal routes for refugees. Set a three-month service standard for most asylum claims, lift the ban on asylum seekers working after three months, and move work visa and overseas student policy out of the Home Office.

Scope: UK-wide; the manifesto refers to devolved administrations contributing to 'UK-wide policy on work permits and student visas'.

Mechanism, cost, funding and source
Mechanism
A dedicated unit for asylum decisions and faster returns of those without a right to stay; a merit-based work visa system in place of the salary threshold; NHS and care staff exempt from the £1,000-a-year Immigration Skills Charge; Youth Mobility Scheme age limit raised from 30 to 35; reversing the family visa income threshold rise; a 28-day limit on adult detention.
Published cost
Costings document: a saving of £4,290m in 2028-29 from cutting the asylum backlog and allowing asylum seekers to work after three months (extra tax and national insurance, lower asylum support, accommodation and healthcare spending).
Funding
Savings from cancelling the Rwanda scheme to be invested in clearing the asylum backlog.
Timing
Not stated (three months is a processing standard and work-permission threshold, not a delivery date).
What remains unclear
The documents do not set out costs for new safe and legal routes or the dedicated asylum unit separately from the net £4,290m saving.

Original manifesto · Manifesto PDF p. 87-91 (printed 87-91); Costings PDF p. 3 and 5 (printed 2 and 4)

Original costings document

What was costed, and who would pay?

The party published a costings table or separate document. This records publication, not independent validation, complete policy coverage or guaranteed funding.

Costings document: revenue of £26,870m in 2028-29, including tax avoidance and evasion £7,230m, capital gains tax reform £5,210m, bank taxes £4,250m, aviation taxes £3,620m, oil and gas windfall tax £2,120m and Digital Services Tax £2,090m.

These are the party’s 2024 estimates, not today’s receipts or spending. Annual and whole-parliament amounts, different price bases and different geographies cannot be added or ranked as though they were the same.

Independent scrutiny and implementation limits

Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2024-06-10

tax rises claimed to raise £27 billion in 2028-29, funding a £26.8 billion (0.8% of national income) increase in day-to-day spending in 2028-29, plus £19.7 billion a year of extra investment on average, financed by borrowing. The risks to the £27 billion are on the downside, the windfall tax is one-off revenue, unprotected services would still face cuts, and no date is set for debt to fall.

What would implementation need to resolve?

These are the issues identified in the dated source review, not forecasts of markets, health outcomes or an election result. Later policies need a separate assessment.

Housing
The documents do not say when 380,000 homes a year would be reached or how the £6.2 billion is split between social housing and broadband.
NHS
IFS: it is not clear what the £8.4 billion for health and social care in England is additional to.
Tax and spending
IFS: the risks to the claimed £27 billion a year are on the downside, and the oil and gas windfall tax would raise revenue only temporarily.
Work
The documents do not say how the 20% zero-hours premium would be set or enforced, or what share of the £100m relates to sick pay support.
Education
The documents do not state by how much per-pupil funding would rise above inflation or when the Tutoring Guarantee would begin.
Energy
The £8.4 billion is not split between energy and nature measures, and the 'one-off' windfall tax is shown as raising revenue in 2028-29 without explanation.
Immigration
The documents do not set out costs for new safe and legal routes or the dedicated asylum unit separately from the net £4,290m saving.

What happened at the election—and since?

These proposals were published for the July 2024 general election. Election results, present voting intention and government delivery are different measures; use the linked evidence pages for each.