Tories plot stamp duty cut to win over voters

Senior Tories are considering an “aspirational” pledge to slash stamp duty in an attempt to turn around the Conservative Party’s political fortunes.

Sir Keir Starmer positioned himself as the heir to Tony Blair after Labour won the previously safe Tory seats of Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth with swings of more than 20 percentage points in what the party hailed as a “political earthquake”. Repeating the swing in a general election would lead to a 1997-style landslide for Starmer.

While Rishi Sunak and his chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, are resisting calls to cut taxes in the autumn statement, senior Tories are weighing up a major offer on tax for the general election manifesto next year, providing the economy has recovered sufficiently.

The Times has been told that