Centre for Policy Studies

The Centre for Policy Studies is Britain’s leading centre-right think tank with a mission to develop a new generation of conservative thinking. Under the directorship of Robert Colvile and chairmanship of Lord Spencer, the latest parliamentary survey by ComRes found that the CPS is considered by Conservative MPs to be the country’s most influential think tank.

The CPS produces its own policy papers – in particular on its core areas of tax and cost of living, tech and innovation, education, housing, and energy and the environment. It also works with prominent thinkers, including many Conservative MPs, to bring their ideas to a wider audience as well as hosting events, debates and conferences.

The CPS also owns and operates CapX, a comment site publishing pieces on policies and ideas that will enhance freedom, choice and prosperity for everyone in Britain.

Founded in 1974 by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher, the CPS was responsible for developing the bulk of the policy agenda that became known as Thatcherism. The CPS, Thatcher said, “was where our conservative revolution began”.

Over the past 50 years, the CPS has produced countless policies which have made Britain a better place. The taming of runaway inflation, the curbing of the power of the trade unions, the privatisation revolution, the shrinking of the state and Britain’s embrace of entrepreneurship all began at the CPS.

In more recent years, the CPS created the Lifetime ISA, championed wider share ownership, argued that you should be able to take your pension with you when you moved jobs, championed synthetic phonics in schools, which – since its introduction – raised children’s literacy standards, and the policy of raising the personal allowance for income tax first appeared in a CPS pamphlet.


Latest reports

The case against the Energy Price Cap

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at the history of the EPC including the crises and political and regulatory distortions. This report examines the history of the Energy Price Cap (EPC) and the crises and political and regulatory distortions which have dragged it away from its original purpose. Far...

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Family-friendly taxation

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at how to restore fairness to the tax system. The British tax system is also much less kind to families than other comparable countries. At the average wage, a single-earner married couple with two children will pay more tax here than in France,...

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The future of driving

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at fuel duty and vehicle excise duty in relations to Zero Emission Vehicles. In 2021/22, drivers paid £33bn in fuel duty and vehicle excise duty. But the Government spent only £5.4bn on national roads and £6.4bn on local roads in the same period....

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Where are the workers?

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies presents a new diagnosis of inactivity in the UK. Economic inactivity has become a huge issue in politics – and is expected to be a key area of focus in this week’s Budget. But many of the most common claims about inactivity turn out...

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The case for housebuilding

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies demolishes a series of longstanding and damaging myths about the British housing sector. As public debate about the housing and planning system grows, a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies demolishes a series of longstanding and increasingly damaging myths about the British...

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Stopping the crossings

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at how Britain can take back control of its immigration and asylum system. Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has welcomed a report jointly written by Nick Timothy, a former Home Office adviser and Downing Street chief of staff, which calls for a raft...

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New horizons

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Progressive Policy looks at transforming educational opportunities to support inclusive growth. Across England, significant educational inequalities map closely on to differences in local economic outcomes. Places with higher levels of deprivation are typically characterised by worse educational outcomes, higher unemployment, lower pay, and poorer health. This...

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The UK’s International Tax Competitiveness 2022 Update

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies uses fresh Tax Foundation calculations to show that the UK will fall in competitiveness. A new briefing note by Tom Clougherty, Research Director and Head of Tax at the Centre for Policy Studies, uses fresh Tax Foundation calculations to show that the UK will...

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A censor’s charter?

This report from UK think the Centre for Policy Studies looks at the case against the Online Safety Bill. The Online Safety Bill (OSB) is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation produced by Government in recent years. A new briefing paper from the Centre for Policy Studies outlines why it is likely to...

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After the super-deduction

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies assesses proposals for the reform of Capital Allowances. For many years, the UK has adopted a strikingly ungenerous approach to capital cost recovery – the ability of firms to write off investment against tax. This has coincided with consistently low levels of business investment....

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Why choose Britain?

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at the mood of the investment community into doing business in the UK. We interviewed more than 100 founders, funders, CEOs, entrepreneurs and other senior figures, in the biggest focus group of its kind to date. Their comments to the CPS, provided on...

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Cutting the cost of living

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at measures to address short term challenges of the cost of living crisis. British households continue to face the dire realities of a worsening cost of living crisis, which the Government has rightly made its number one priority. A new Centre for Policy...

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Changing track

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at how to rescue the railways after the pandemic. Despite the UK being one of the most open societies across Europe, rail journeys have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The number of people commuting every day at peak time is just 15% of...

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Solving the childcare challenge

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at a solution that would deliver for families and the economy. Unaffordable childcare has disastrous social and economic consequences, as women leave the workforce to avoid extortionate childcare costs; this is a hammer blow to equality and national productivity. This CPS briefing paper...

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Trading up

This report from UK think tank the Centre for Policy Studies looks at how to support UK exports in a post-Brexit world. SMEs make up 99.9% of UK businesses, employing 16.3 million people. They are at the heart of the UK economy. Yet historically, they have been far more reluctant to export than their international...

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