Liberal Democrat General Election Manifesto 2005

Titled “the real alternative” – the Liberal Democrats launched their manifesto for the General Election 2005 hoping to offer a different kind of politics to Labour and the Tories. Their key policy is to replace council tax with a new local income tax – saving the typical family £450 a year.

Other key pledges include plans for a new 50% top tax rate on earnings over £100,000 – this would cover the costs for their aims to provide free personal care for the elderly, scrap university tuition fees and bring down local taxes.

The manifesto includes details for a new “citizen’s pension” for over 75’s that would amount to an extra £100 a month. The party also outline their pledge to lower class sizes by providing 21,000 new primary school teachers. 10,000 additional police officers and 20,000 community support officers would also be introduced.

The Liberal Democrats won a vote-share of 22.1%, with 62 MP’s elected.