As the July 4 General Election approaches, AM examined the contrasting visions from the major political parties on transport and environmental policies assessing their different approaches to sustainability, economic growth, and public infrastructure investment.

In advance of the issue of each of the main party's political manifestoes, the National Franchised Dealer Association (NFDA) called on all major political parties to offer ‘robust support’ on key issues for the automotive retail sector ahead of the election including help to boost retail demand for EVs, an overhaul of the apprenticeship levy, mandated public chargepoint targets, plus a clear plan for future road pricing.

Many of those policy issues have been addressed to some extent but as an employer of  78% of the 758,000 people working in the sector and which generates annual turnover of £100 billion, automotive retailers will be focussed on which political party addresses the factors which most impact their business.

Ahead of the upcoming General Election, the Labour Party is promising to reintroduce the ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) cars starting from 2030. However, there is no mention in the manifesto about how such a change will impact vans.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer cited economic revitalisation as a cornerstone of the party’s manifesto, highlighting the need to modernise the country’s transport infrastructure.