Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride reveals plans for ‘First Job Bonus’ in Conservative Party Conference Speech

The Tory Party Conference has returned to Manchester, and as part of the event, several Shadow Cabinet Secretaries have been addressing party members, MPs, councillors and journalists.

Today (Monday 6th October) was day two of conference, and speakers included Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins, Shadow Net Zero & Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden and Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston. Most notably however, was the speech delivered by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Mel Stride.

The Shadow Chancellor’s Criticism of Other Parties

Stride was rather critical of the Labour Government throughout his speech. Firstly, he stated that they had “given up” on small businesses. He went on to accuse Labour of spending an extra £100 billion year on year, 10% more than promised in their election manifesto.

The criticism didn’t end there, as Stride highlighted that “unemployment is at its highest level since the pandemic,” partly due to the fact that “89,000 hospitality jobs have been destroyed.” Stride said that this was as result of business confidence being at a record low due to tax increases and higher inflation.

Stride was also critical of Reform UK, who currently lead most UK electoral polls. He described the party as a “populist alternative totally detached from reality.” He also said that Reform had made £10s of billions worth of unfunded promises, using the scrapping of the two child benefit cap as an example. He said that Reform would fail to deliver on their current pledges, and would leave voters feeling a sense of “emptiness.”

What policies did Stride announce during his conference speech?

Away from criticising other parties, Stride announced some economic policies that the Tories would have, should they be elected back into government at the next election.

This includes an overhaul of the welfare system. Stride said that whilst it’s important to protect the most vulnerable, those currently on benefits that can work, should work. He said that many people with less severe mental health conditions should be given treatment and support, not cash. He also added that work provides people with stability and pride which would help ease these conditions. He claimed that the Tories plan to overhaul the benefits system would create a £23 billion saving.

He also promised to end the use of asylum hotels, describing the billions allegedly being spent right now as a “scandal.” He also said that the Conservatives would scrap much of the current Energy Secretary, Ed Milliband’s Net Zero plan, which Stride described as a “vanity project” which is driving up people’s bills.

On tax cuts, Stride took a cautious approach. He admitted that, whilst the Tories must “bring taxes down”, they must only do so “when it’s affordable.” He said that the party had learnt its mistakes from Liz Truss’ September 2022 ‘mini-budget’, and would always detail how they plan to pay for things when committing to spending. He did however say that the party would plan to abolish business rates, in a bid to get High Streets active again. Stride said he believed that UK High Streets were the “unsung heroes” of the nation, and claimed that when they decay, so do the areas around them.

Something that may be of interest to University of Salford students was the announcement of a “First job bonus.” The policy would see the first £5000 an individual contributes in National Insurance transferred into a fund, allowing them to save for a deposit on their own home.

Stride ended his speech by exclaiming that the Conservative Party were the “party of the hope”, and the “party of the future.”

The Conservative Party Conference continues in Manchester on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th October 2025.