► CAR decodes the 2024 election manifestos…
► … focusing on the policies aimed at UK drivers
► Key proposals = EV chargers and road maintenance
Britain’s politicians are gearing up for a scrap. The date for the next general election has been set for Thursday 4 July 2024 – and all the major parties have now launched their manifestos and sparked their election campaigns in the quest for your vote.
Here at CAR magazine, we try not to get entangled in politics. Despite this, we couldn’t think of a good argument against rounding up politicians’ views on motoring. We thought a no-nonsense guide that outlined each party’s plans for UK drivers would be incredibly helpful. So, we made one.
Normally, politicians bury their motoring policies behind more critical issues, such as the economy, immigration, taxes and public services. Unsurprisingly, this year is no different. That’s because the next government will need to tackle our struggling NHS, deal with a rapidly accelerating climate crisis and organise a recovery plan for the highest rate of inflation the nation has seen for around 40 years.
Motoring policies are still important, though, because they affect such a massive portion of the electorate. According to the Office for National Statistics, 75% of people aged 17 and over held a full driving licence in 2022. Even discounting the underage voters, that an enormous swathe of the public – and swaying just a fraction of them with some well-aimed driving policies could be enough to affect the outcome of the election.
Below, we’ve summarised what each party’s plans are for drivers. However, because pictures of politicians are boring, we’ve headed each section with an image of a car, (painted in the corresponding party colour, naturally), doing a huge skid. We thought they’d add a splash of excitement to what’s quite a dry topic.
Scroll down for some political journalism, CAR magazine style. Then, if you’re feeling particularly brave, let us know which party you think has the best chance of winning the election in the comments below.
Conservatives
The Tories have proposed a thorough plan for Britain’s motorists – and their policies seem to be quite tactically aimed. We reckon the party is boxing clever by targeting the most controversial pieces of motoring legislation and offering to ‘fix’ the complaints they’ve caused amongst drivers in an effort to drum up some support.
The party kicks off with a pledge to spend a ‘record’ £8.3 billion on mending potholes and resurfacing roads – money it says will be spent before the end of the next financial year. The Conservatives also say they’ll cancel pay-per-mile road pricing and reverse the expansion of the London ULEZ. That latter policy helped the party win its by-election in Harrow, and it’s hedging its bets that the same trick will work on a national level.
Other changes promised by the Tories include scrapping the 20mph speed limit in Wales and introducing a local referendum scheme to give residents the chance to contest all future 20mph zones. The lower speed limit was fiercely opposed in Wales and the Tories state that, although it can improve road safety in school zones and residential areas, it doesn’t suit every road to which it’s been applied.
Another change proposed by the party is a new Pumpwatch scheme which will force petrol retailers to share live pricing information, allowing drivers to easily find the best deal. Plus, the Tories aim to make fly tipping an offence punishable with penalty points on the offender’s driving licence.
The Conservatives also took the opportunity to remind us of their new Automated Vehicles Act, which became law in May 2024. The new legislation will allow self-driving cars to hit our roads as soon as 2026. Additionally, the party says it’ll remain committed to its promise to halt the construction of all new smart motorways.
Finally, like Labour, the Conservatives have assured us they’ll bolster the UK’s EV charging infrastructure. However, they’re yet to confirm exactly how they plan to improve the network and how much the project will cost.
To find out more, read the full Conservative Party manifesto
Labour
Labour’s election campaign focuses on five things: kickstarting economic growth, improving our clean energy industry, clamping down on crime, rebuilding the NHS and revising the country’s childcare and education systems to allow all young people to reach their potential irrespective of their class or economic status.
That’s a lot for the party to worry about, but Labour still reckons it has time to implement some interesting motoring policies. The party’s biggest proposed change is to reinstate the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars, thus reversing the Tories’ decision to push it back to 2035.
Labour also aims to introduce a fresh piece of legislation for second-hand electric cars. It’ll launch a new, standardised method of recording the health of used EV battery packs which the party says will help drivers make more informed buying decisions.
Labour’s also considering how it can balance the country’s finances with its list of priorities. So, in its fiscal plan, the party states it’ll delay construction of the A27 bypass and reallocate that £65 million budget to repair up to 1 million potholes each year.
The final issues the party hopes to address are the soaring cost of car insurance and the country’s as-yet unfinished EV charging infrastructure. However, the party is yet to provide a budget (or even an estimate) for either of these plans.
To find out more, read the full Labour Party manifesto
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats have a slightly different set of priorities. In addition to reforming our economy and repairing our public services, the party hopes to fix our relationship with the EU and tackle climate change. Cars are, obviously, a part of this latter plan – and the Lib Dems say they’ll make some changes to our motoring habits.
Electric cars play a big role in this plan. The party promises to ‘make it cheaper and easier for drivers to switch to electric vehicles’ – and to achieve this, it’s proposing a three-pronged policy assault.
First, the party will concentrate on infrastructure. It says it’ll build more public charging points, including low-speed on-street residential chargers and high-speed rapid chargers at motorways service stations. Much like the Conservatives and Labour, though, it hasn’t given an estimate for the cost of the project.
The Lib Dems also pledge to cut VAT on public charging down to 5% and upgrade the National Grid to allow it to cope with the extra strain. In addition, the party says it’ll reintroduce the plug-in car grant and revert the deadline for the ban on combustion engine cars from 2035 to 2030 (matching Labour).
The party rounds off its motoring policies with a rather sweeping promise to ‘protect motorists from rip-offs,’ claiming it’ll work to control ‘unfair insurance and petrol prices.’ One of the ways the party says it will achieve this is by expanding its Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme, which would see drivers in areas such as Cornwall, Cumbria and Devon save 5p per litre at the pump.
To find out more, read the full Liberal Democrat manifesto
Green Party
The Green Party is proposing some bolder changes to Britain’s motoring landscape. First, the party says it will stop the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2027. That’s three years sooner than the date fixed by Labour and the Lib Dems. What’s more, the Greens say they want to remove all combustion engine cars from our roads by 2035.
To hit this target, the Green Party says it’ll introduce a new scrappage scheme (for which almost every car on the road will be eligible for) and launch a fresh bout of financial support to help drivers afford a new electric car.
Other changes include a reformed road tax system that’s proportional to the weight of the vehicle and a default 20mph speed limit in all built-up areas. Plus, the Greens have pledged to spend an additional £19 billion over five years on upgrading the nation’s bus and rail services and ‘supporting electrification.’
The Greens stand firm on their policies about pollution, too. So, to trim our travel emissions, the party says it will oppose all new road-building plans and spend £2.5 billion per year on fresh cycleways and footpaths. The idea is to encourage people to step out of their cars and either walk or cycle for their local journeys.
This policy also includes a scheme that will ‘reimagine’ how our residential streets are used. The Greens hope to ‘reduce traffic’ and open the roads up for ‘community use.’ However, the party is yet to announce how the changes will be made and whether the people they affect will be polled for their opinion before they’re enacted.
To find out more, read the full Green Party manifesto
Reform UK
Reform UK leads on policies such as leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, freezing all non-essential UK immigration, rejecting any asylum claims that arrive through ‘safe countries’ and introducing a tougher, zero-tolerance policing strategy.
The party’s aims for the transport sector are similarly daring. Within its first 100 days in office, Reform UK says it’ll scrap HS2 (which will save the country a chunky £25 billion). It also says it’ll cancel every low-emission zone and low-traffic neighbourhood in the nation, abandon the petrol and diesel car ban entirely and remove all legal requirements for car manufacturers to switch to making electric cars.
Reform UK also says it’ll immediately issue extraction licences to plum the North Sea’s gas and oil supplies, as well as reverse the UK’s Net Zero targets and bin its related subsidies.
To find out more, read the full Reform UK manifesto