Key policies from the newly elected UK Labour Party

Focus on: business and the economy

In many respects, the broad outline of economic policy under Labour will remain unchanged. The Bank of England’s inflation target will remain at 2%. There will be balanced budgets, with day-to-day costs met by revenues, and a plan that debt should fall as a share of the economy within five years. There will be no increases to income tax, National Insurance contributions, VAT or corporation tax.

Labour plans to take a more directive approach to industrial policy, establishing an Industrial Strategy Council, a National Wealth Fund, a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, and a Regulatory Innovation Office.

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Focus on: healthcare

Labour plans to implement some potentially ambitious changes to healthcare and life sciences policy and delivery, with a focus on encouraging investment, facilitating innovation and speeding up procurement and regulatory approvals. We expect to see increased support for the use of AI in healthcare, alongside regulation to ensure its safe development and use.

Specific measures include significant bolstering of investment in NHS CT and MRI equipment, modernising mental health legislation, and tackling nicotine addiction and children’s diet.

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Focus on: private wealth

A key issue for private wealth will be what tax reforms a Labour government will introduce and when. They have been quite clear in their manifesto that they will not increase taxes on working people, pledging that they will not increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT.

However, the manifesto was largely silent on capital gains tax and inheritance tax, raising speculation that changes on these taxes may come. It seems likely however that they will implement the Conservative Party's proposals to change the tax rules as they affect non-domiciled individuals and potentially impose further-reaching restrictions. Labour’s pledges on the growth agenda and housing planning reform could present opportunities for private investors and landowners.

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Focus on: ports and harbours

The key highlight for the ports and harbours industry is Labour’s pledge to establish a National Wealth Fund and allocate £1.8 billion of it towards the upgrade of port infrastructure and to build supply chains across the UK.

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