Pledge
“Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes”
Our verdict
The Tobacco and Vapes Act was granted Royal Assent on 29 April 2026.
Is the government on track to ensure ‘the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes’?
Achieved 
What does the pledge mean?
The Labour party’s 2024 manifesto promised to “ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes”.
The government plans to achieve this by making it illegal to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products to anyone in the UK born after 1 January 2009.
This would impose an effective ban on smoking for those in that age group.
Although Labour committed to delivering this in its manifesto, a similar plan was first proposed under the previous Conservative government in October 2023.
Banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009 was a key aim in the previous Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which was introduced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration but was ultimately not passed before Parliament was dissolved in May 2024 ahead of that year’s general election.
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What progress has been made?
The new Tobacco and Vapes Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, after the Bill was introduced to Parliament in November 2024.
The ban on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009 will come into force on 1 January 2027, when those in question begin to turn 18.
The Act also grants the government powers to extend the indoor smoking ban to specific outdoor spaces and includes measures to ban vape advertising and sponsorship.