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All major UK political parties lack boldness needed to tackle poverty, new research says

New research, which has reviewed major U.K. political parties' past manifestos, finds they all lack the boldness needed to tackle the structural roots of inequality and significantly raise people out of poverty.

Across the 2015, 2017 and 2024 manifestos from most major U.K. political parties, policy proposals to reduce poverty remain shallow, inconsistent, and largely disconnected from the realities faced by people living in hardship.

Led by researchers at the University of Birmingham and the University of Nottingham, with evaluation from 29 academics at 23 U.K. universities, the research from Academics Stand Against Poverty UK (ASAP UK) has been today (30th June) in the Social Policy Review.

The study evaluated the manifestos against a human flourishing framework (Eudaimonia), which measures against criteria such as equity, sustainability, and the capacity to support meaningful lives. It found that in nearly a decade, none of the three traditional parties (Conservatives, Labor, Liberal Democrats) has consistently achieved a confidence score above 3 out of 5, the baseline for policies deemed likely to significantly reduce poverty.

Dr. Gerardo Javier Arriaga-Garcia, Research Fellow in the City-Region Economic Development Institute at the University of Birmingham, said, "Poverty and rising inequality have been, and still are, some of the biggest challenges facing modern British politics. Despite mounting evidence that wealth gaps are increasing and inequality is becoming worse, and while some parties' policies scored better than others, our research has found that all of our major political parties lack the required ambition needed to tackle poverty and the structural roots of inequality."

The Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party were scored across their past three manifestos, whereas the Green Party was reviewed twice and Plaid Cymru once. UKIP was reviewed in 2015 but was then replaced by Reform UK in 2024. The Scottish National Party and parties specific to Northern Ireland were not included, due to manifestos not being released within the timescale of and the 2024 election being called early.

Researchers looked at various policy areas which would impact poverty and inequality, including crime and justice, disability, education, employment, fiscal policy, health, housing, money and banking, social care and social security. Different parties scored higher or lower across different policy areas and different manifestos, but there was no consistent performance for any party across policy areas or manifestos.

The study found a marked drop in attention to poverty reduction in all party manifestos. The Conservatives went from a 1.7 in 2015 to a 1.5 in 2017, and then a 1.3 in 2024, scoring the lowest for parties measured across all three audits, reflecting limited attention to poverty alleviation. Labor had the biggest drop of all parties in 2024, going from a 2.6 in 2015, then bumping up to 3.6, and right back down to 2.1. The Lib Dems were at 3.2 in 2015 and 2017 and then took a tumble to 2.9 in 2024. The Green Party consistently scored the highest for policy ambition, although commitments were not always feasible, but the score still went from a 3.9 in 2015 to 3.4 last year. UKIP was only at a 1.4 in 2015 and Reform fell even further to 0.9 in 2024, the lowest score across all manifestos. Plaid Cymru scored 2.4 in 2024.

Dr. Lee Gregory, Associate Professor in Social Policy at the University of Nottingham and Chair of ASAP UK, explained: "The 2024 audit illustrated that while several parties were seeking to address poverty through their manifestos, there remained a lack of ambition on this front. No party scored highly, suggesting that proposed interventions are unlikely to tackle the main challenges faced by people living in the U.K."

A score of 3 out of 5 is considered to be the lowest level of confidence that policies suggested in the manifestos will successfully pursue societal flourishing and tackle poverty. Across all audits, few political parties reach the lower end of this confidence threshold, and no party has ever scored a 4 out of 5 rating.

Dr. Arriaga-Garcia concluded, "Our research paints a rather concerning picture, that unless our politicians think ambitiously and in the long term to implement real meaningful change, promises to reduce poverty will not be realized. At a time when inequality is growing, a cost-of-living crisis has pushed more people towards and below the poverty threshold, and our political landscape is rapidly shifting, our political parties must develop policies that will actually make a difference. Far too few of them are even meeting the bare minimum."