Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Image source, AFP/Getty

Until not that long ago, Theresa May was perhaps best known for her characterisation of the Tory party as a group that some voters thought was "the nasty party".

Years and years later, it feels her first manifesto pitch as prime minister is the logical conclusion of that.

In her manifesto she tried to make a bold claim, that the Tories had never been the party of untrammelled free markets, that they had always believed that government could be a force for good - indeed that it is time for an end to political tribes, that she is for and represents the mainstream.

The manifesto explicitly rejects the idea of a centre ground that is defined by what she described as Westminster "elites".

Instead, she is putting forward the notion that somehow, she can genuinely represent everyone - well, everyone who is in the middle.

Read the rest of Laura's blog here.

London's new east-west rail link, Crossrail, due to open next year but the Conservative manifesto contains no commitment to a proposed north-south link, dubbed Crossrail Two.

Richard Garner from property consultancy Daniel Watney LLP said:

Like the CBI, the British Chambers of Commerce welcomes proposals to "overhaul the broken business rates system", as it sees it, and also to "deliver better digital and mobile connectivity".

However, it also joins the CBI in voicing concern about the Conservative manifesto's proposals on immigration.

"The positive reception to some elements of the manifesto will be tempered by proposals that would increase up-front costs, regulatory obligations and uncertainty for businesses," said director general Adam Marshall.

BBC News Channel

Phoebe Griffith, a researcher in migration for the centre-left IPPR think tank, says the Conservatives' pledge to cut net migration is similar to the policy of the last six years.

Meanwhile, "non-EU migration remains pretty high" and the economy is still "highly reliant on EU migrants", she argues.

Ms Griffith adds that the Conservatives do not give much indication which sectors of the economy would be affected by a migration curb.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said "we're starting down that track" of bringing the health and social care budgets together.

Mr Fallon told Martha Kearney the changes to social care outlined in the Conservative manifesto were about "how you generate more resources to go into social care... and reduce the pressure on the NHS".

Amol Rajan
Media editor

Image source, PA

In her short reign as prime minister, Theresa May has been warmly supported by many of Britain’s most powerful newspaper groups.

The Daily Mail, the Times and the Daily Express, which have different owners, have mostly been as positive toward her as they have been disobliging about Jeremy Corbyn.

At the same time, these different newspaper groups have campaigned vigorously for the second stage of the Leveson Inquiry, and Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act (which would have required them to pay the legal costs of action taken against them, if they didn’t sign up to an approved regulator) to be scrapped.

The Tory manifesto has agreed to these wishes: both Leveson two and Section 40 won’t materialise.

Obviously there is no suggestion or evidence of some kind of deal between the prime minister and the press - but clearly she has a more constructive relationship with many of Britain’s top titles than even her predecessor.

It was David Cameron who, victims of press abuse believe, gave an assurance that Leveson two would go ahead. Those victims feel betrayed today.

Meanwhile at Channel 4, there is bound to be anxiety and dismay among staff that the broadcaster will be relocated outside of London.

For several months, senior executives have argued strongly against such a move.

The most senior, CEO David Abraham, is leaving later this year. Contenders to replace him will have to weigh the uncertainty of not immediately knowing where they will be based.

Mark Easton
Home editor

Image source, Reuters

With a Conservative government, the UK must prepare to become a low-migration economy.

The party's restated commitment to reduce net-migration to the tens of thousands is ambitious and radical.

Health, construction, social care, hospitality, agriculture and the creative industries are among the areas that will have to adapt to a squeeze on the supply of foreign labour.

The Tories' plans to increase the levy on firms employing overseas citizens is designed to change the economics of using migrant workers and encourage business to train and recruit British workers.

However, many business and service sectors are already lobbying for transitional visa arrangements to give them the time to adjust to lower migration levels.

Some ministers have agreed this may be necessary. Training enough British workers for the millions of jobs currently filled by foreigners cannot be achieved overnight and economists warn that there are significant costs in the short to medium term.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, which has a statutory duty to advise ministers on the public finances, has calculated that reducing net migration to 105,000 (still just above the Conservative target) would cost the UK economy £5.9bn a year by 2020-21.

Business group the CBI welcomes aspects of the Conservatives' manifesto, such as "proposed increased R&D spending, planned corporation tax reductions and a commitment to act on business rates".

However, says CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn, “the Conservative manifesto has an Achilles heel - in a global race for talent and innovation, UK firms risk being left in the starting blocks because of a blunt approach to immigration".

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP

Theresa May insisted at the manifesto launch earlier that there is no such thing as "Mayism" - but former Conservative MP Matthew Parris thinks "the lady doth protest too much".

"This is Mayism," he insists and describes the PM's ideology as "a belief in limited but effective" government intervention.

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson says the Conservatives have moved to the left economically while "the national question has become much more important: Getting Brexit right, keeping the Union together".

The Conservative Party could be seeing "Thatcherism leaving its bloodstream" as the party "evolves", he argues.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Image source, PA

Much of what the Conservative Party says on defence has already been promised or trailed. It is broadly a continuation of current policy.

But the reassurances of spending 2% of GDP on defence and increasing the Ministry of Defence budget by 0.5% won't be enough to allay real worries in the armed forces about potential further cuts.

There is, for example, no guarantee of further reductions in the size of the British Army - as there was in the last Tory manifesto. Maybe it's because the party failed to live up to that commitment.

Nor are there any specific numbers attached to promised new military equipment. The reality is the MOD is struggling to pay for all the kit that’s been promised.

If there is one clear policy designed to appeal to voters, it's the promise to clamp down on persistent and vexatious legal claims against British troops.

The Tories have heeded public anger over so-called "witch hunts" against British troops wrongly accused of abuse on the battlefield - though it’s taken them some time to respond to that public outcry.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

"Thank goodness for that," is Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson's response to the Conservative manifesto's lack of a guarantee not to raise taxes.

"It really was an extraordinary position for any government to put itself in, that it wouldn't increase any of the rates of any of the main taxes," he says, commenting on the Conservatives' 2015 manifesto pledge.

He doesn't think the Conservatives are looking for "big increases" in tax and National Insurance but "some flexibility to respond if the public finances demand it".

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, education correspondent

Head teachers across England have been making increasingly strident protests about schools running out of cash.

The Conservatives have responded by reshuffling about £1bn a year extra into the day-to-day running budgets of schools.

Most of this would come from stopping free hot lunches for all infant pupils – a policy only launched a few years ago.

It’s no surprise that the ban on new grammar schools will be lifted – but there are no extra indications for how many might open.

There is also a promise of a much wider review of admissions rules – addressing the problem of “ordinary working families” priced out of catchment areas of good schools by housing costs.

Also unanticipated is a measure to tackle the teacher shortage, with an incentive that teachers would not have to pay back tuition fees while they were teaching.

But the big underlying theme is for a more diverse range of schools. Along with more selection, there will be a maths specialist school in every big city, more free schools and more faith schools.

The independent school sector will be expected to sponsor more academies, under threat of a review of their charitable status, and universities will have to sponsor an academy if they want to charge higher tuition fees.

More choices, but expect more battles over funding ahead.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon says there have been "endless reviews and commissions" looking at social care and the Conservatives are now addressing it.

By means-testing winter fuel payments, the Conservatives have "found a way of putting all that money into social care for the first time", he tells the World at One.

Sir Michael says the Tories are "starting down that track" of bringing health and social care budgets together and adds:

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Former Pensions Minister Baroness Altmann says the government is trying to do something radical to address social care - but she can understand Sir Andrew Dilnot being disappointed that there is not going to be a cap on costs.

Sir Andrew, who led a review of social care for the coalition government in 2011, which recommended that individuals' contributions to their care costs should be capped, has criticised the Conservatives' 2017 manifesto policy.

Baroness Altmann tells the World at One that the cost of care "depends on where you live and whether you own your own home" but also on "what is wrong with you".

Cancer patients would not have to pay the cost of their care while those with Alzheimer's, for example, would have to meet the cost, the Conservative peer adds.

BBC Newsnight

Simon Gompertz
BBC personal finance correspondent

You can say that the triple lock on pension increases was already in play, that the Conservatives had said before the election that they'd review it. But now they have decided, and abandoning it is a change of direction with huge financial consequences.

Guaranteeing at least a 2.5% annual uprating in the hard years since the financial crisis will have taken the state pension from 16% of average earnings to 24% by 2020.

John Cridland, who reviewed pensions for the government, said keeping the triple lock would eventually cost nearly 1% extra of our national income.

So the policy change saves billions in the long run. On the other hand, many pensioners still find it very hard to make ends meet.

In theory those same hard-up pensioners would continue to benefit from the winter fuel payment, if it is means tested. But what worries campaigners for the elderly is how a means test would work.

Restrict the payment to those who qualify for pension credit, for instance, and you have to deal with the problem that more than a million people don't claim the credit, even though they are entitled to it.

Andrew Neil
Presenter, The Daily Politics

UKIP is warning there will be no Brexit if it doesn't do well in the general election.

The Eurosceptic party is warning voters that a Conservative victory would allow Theresa May to "backslide" on withdrawal from the EU.

They're accusing the Tories of picking "Remain" candidates for key "Leave" seats including Great Yarmouth, Chelmsford and Thurrock.

At a press conference in London, UKIP MEP Tim Aker (pictured) said "early warning signs" have already surfaced that the Conservatives were ready to compromise on issues such as free movement and the multi-billion pound divorce bill expected from Brussels.

"The message is clear... we need a UKIP voice in the Commons to make sure we finish the job on Brexit... without UKIP there would have been no referendum, without UKIP in the Commons, there will be no Brexit".

Mr Aker is standing for the party's top target seat of Thurrock, where he finished third in a close three-way fight in 2015 - just 974 votes behind Conservative Jackie Doyle-Price. Ms Doyle-Price is standing again on 8 June.

Theresa May boarded her campaign bus after launching her manifesto.

Asked how she felt it had gone, she said: "Well, it's a good manifesto."