Personal finance: where do the political parties stand?

It hardly seems possible – where does the time go? – but the general election takes place next week. Following the suspension of electioneering after the atrocity in Manchester, the political parties have returned to the campaign trail with all kinds of promises designed to lure the electorate to their respective sides.

As far as personal finance is concerned, there’s a myriad of key pledges. Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, takes a closer look at the Tories and Labour.

Conservatives

·        Raise the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020

·        Increase the higher rate tax threshold to £50,000 by 2020

·        Increase the Living wage – currently set at £7.50 per hour – to 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020

·        Extend automatic enrolment to the self-employed

·        Replace the state pension ‘triple-lock’ with a ‘double-lock’ from 2020

·        Introduce a £100,000 capital floor for people paying social care costs

·        Introduce a cap on long-term care costs (rejected in the manifesto but subsequently announced by Theresa May)

Selby says: ‘There was much heat but little light in the Conservative manifesto, with the launch overshadowed by Theresa May’s dramatic U-turn on capping social care costs.