Who would protect your pension? What each party is offering pensioners

For 15 years, every major party promised to keep the triple lock. That consensus ended last week. Labour now plans to change it from 2030, while the Conservatives and Reform UK say they would keep it in full.

With the next general election due by summer 2029, the state pension has become one of the clearest dividing lines in British politics. I’ve looked at what each party is offering pensioners, how they say they would pay for it, and what it could mean for your income.

Labour: change the triple lock to pay for care

As a quick recap, Andy Burnham’s government will keep the triple lock until April 2030. After that, the state pension would rise by inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher, without the link to wages. The government plans to legislate before the next election and use the savings towards a National Care Service offering free personal care. Officials estimate savings of around £15 billion a year by 2040.

On tax, the personal allowance stays frozen at £12,570 until 2031. People whose only income is the basic or new state pension will not have to pay the small amount of tax this creates during this Parliament.

Conservatives: keep the triple lock, cut welfare instead

Opening her party’s conference in Birmingham on Sunday, Kemi Badenoch said the triple lock remains Conservative policy and called it the right policy for pensioners who have contributed all their lives. She has accused Labour of going after the elderly.

The Conservatives say they would pay for it through more than £20 billion of welfare savings, with the focus on getting more working-age people into jobs. Badenoch has also argued that Labour’s plan will not save enough in its early years to fund a care service.

The party is not united on this. Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Lord Gove, Tom Tugendhat and frontbencher Katie Lam have all questioned whether the triple lock can last. At the 2024 election, the Conservatives also promised a “triple lock plus”, which would have raised the tax-free allowance for pensioners each year so the state pension was never taxed. It is not yet clear whether that will return in their next manifesto.

Reform UK: keep the triple lock and raise the tax-free allowance

Reform UK says it is fully committed to the triple lock. Its shadow chancellor, Robert Jenrick, who left the Conservatives for Reform in January, called Labour’s plan “just mean”.

Reform’s offer goes further on tax. Jenrick has pledged to raise the personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,000 in Reform’s first Budget. That would apply to everyone, not just pensioners, and would keep the full state pension below the tax threshold for some years.

To pay for it, Reform has set out plans to cut around £50 billion a year from the welfare bill, with £22 billion coming from disability benefits. Jenrick says pensioners are not the focus of these cuts. He also argues the triple lock has cost less than the system it replaced, a claim based on Reform’s own calculations.

Liberal Democrats and the SNP

The Liberal Democrats have also criticised Labour’s plan. At the last election they promised to protect the triple lock and to reform social care, including a National Care Agency to set minimum standards. They have not yet set out a full response to Labour’s care plan.

The SNP’s John Swinney has said changing the triple lock would repeat Labour’s past mistakes.

Voters are more divided than the parties. A YouGov poll found Labour’s plan was backed by most Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters, but only 37% of Conservative voters and 27% of Reform voters.

What the difference could mean in pounds

The biggest gap for most pensioners right now is tax rather than the triple lock. Take someone on the full new state pension from next April, around £13,037 annually, with a £4,000 workplace pension on top.

Under Reform’s plan, this person would pay about £486 a year less in tax. That is the most a basic rate taxpayer would save, because only the £2,430 between the two allowances is affected. The triple lock difference only builds up after 2030, and depends on how wages and prices move.

Questions to ask of every promise

Every party’s offer rests on something that has not happened yet.

Labour’s plan relies on future savings. The Institute for Fiscal Studies expects them to be small in the early years and not enough on their own to fund universal care in the next Parliament.

The Conservatives’ and Reform’s plans rely on welfare cuts. Savings on this scale, especially from disability benefits, have proved hard for past governments to deliver, and would need to be found every year.

The triple lock costs more over time. The IFS estimates that keeping it until 2050 could cost between £5 billion and £40 billion a year more than linking pensions to earnings alone. Any party promising to keep it needs a long-term plan for that bill.

Raising the allowance is expensive. A higher personal allowance applies to every taxpayer, not just pensioners, which makes it one of the costliest tax cuts a government can make.

None of this means one plan is right. It means a pension promise is only as secure as the money behind it.

What you can do now

Nothing changes to the triple lock before 2030, whoever wins, and next April’s rise is safe. The changes that affect pensioners today are the frozen tax allowance and the help many are not claiming.

Check whether you can claim Pension Credit. Around 760,000 households who were eligible in 2022/23 missed out, by an average of £1,900 a year. Check at gov.uk/pension-credit or call 0800 99 1234.

Check your tax code if you have a workplace or personal pension, as the state pension now uses up almost all of your tax-free allowance.

Get advice before making big decisions about your pension or what you leave behind. You can find a regulated adviser through the Investing Insiders advice hub at investinginsiders.co.uk/advice/.

The bottom line

For the first time in 15 years, voters face a real choice on the state pension. Labour is offering a smaller guaranteed rise in exchange for free personal care. The Conservatives and Reform are offering to keep the full triple lock, paid for by welfare cuts, with Reform adding a tax cut on top. Which deal is better depends on your own income, your health and how much you trust each party to find the money.

Important notice

This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial, tax or political advice. Investing Insiders does not support any political party. Party positions are as reported up to 6 October 2026 and may change before the next election. Tax figures are illustrative and assume England and Wales rates, the full new state pension and an estimated April 2027 rise of 3.9%.

Sources

Politics.co.uk, Conservatives and Reform UK reiterate support for pension triple lock, September 2026
City AM, Reform UK and Tories attack Burnham’s triple lock pension move, September 2026
AOL, Kemi Badenoch vows to keep pension triple lock, October 2026
Reform UK, Robert Jenrick: Reform won’t ditch our commitment to the triple lock, September 2026
City AM, Jenrick: welfare cuts allow us to sustainably pay triple lock, August 2026
interactive investor, Burnham’s triple lock shake-up, YouGov polling, September 2026
Politics.co.uk, Burnham to change pension triple lock from 2030, including IFS estimates
Hargreaves Lansdown, Conservative manifesto 2024 and the triple lock plus
Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Liberal Democrat 2024 manifesto summary
GOV.UK, Pension Credit