Kemi Badenoch has suggested that reducing inheritance tax would be "morally right", as the Conservatives launch their annual party conference with a series of fresh policy proposals.
The Conservative leader indicated she remains open to reforming the levy — currently charged on most estates valued over £325,000 — provided any adjustments are economically viable.
Speaking to The Sunday Times ahead of the Birmingham gathering, Mrs Badenoch was asked if she intended to scrap the tax entirely.
She replied: "It is morally right that people don’t get taxed twice. It is morally right that if you work hard and want to give something to your children the Government doesn’t take it away."
Mrs Badenoch later added: "I am not going to announce tax cuts unless we can show how we pay for them… tax cuts are a good thing but you’ve got to be fiscally responsible."
The stance comes amid a wave of policy pledges released ahead of the conference, as the party seeks to broaden its platform for government before the next general election.
Among the proposals is an overhaul of state-funded childcare to eliminate the current "cliff edge", which cuts off entitlement for parents earning over £100,000. Under the Tory plan, any parent working at least 16 hours a week would qualify for 30 hours of free care per week. Party officials estimate the measure will cost £700 million annually, to be financed by shrinking the headcount at arms-length public bodies.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mrs Badenoch remarked: "What we want to see is that people who work harder don’t get punished for doing so."
Further announcements include restricting non-UK nationals' access to student loans, which the party claims will save the taxpayer £900 million a year. The proposals also intend to block EU Settled Status (EUSS) claims, a system the Tories say is being "abused".
Attending her second conference as Conservative Party leader, Mrs Badenoch arrived in central Birmingham on Saturday afternoon alongside her husband, Hamish Badenoch, a banker.
Questioned by reporters regarding opinion polls that currently place the party behind both Labour and Reform UK, she insisted the party had reformed.
She said: "I think that people will see that we have gone on a journey. We’re not the party that the public said no to in 2024. We are a new Conservative Party."
She added: "I’ve got a strong team. So many of my shadow cabinet are here, and they are going to be showing all the wonderful plans we have to get this country working again."
