The triple lock is the formula the UK government uses to raise the state pension every year. Under the current rule, payments increase each April by whichever is highest of three measures: average wage growth, the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation, or 2.5%, according to government guidance and financial-planning site Fidelity.
For the 2026/27 financial year, the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week, or £12,548 a year, Fidelity reports, after a 4.8% rise driven by wage growth. A further increase to £250.70 a week is due in April 2027, based on a confirmed 3.9% wage rise.
What Badenoch said in Birmingham
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on 4 October 2026, Badenoch said the triple lock remains Conservative policy. Asked whether the party would keep it "no ifs, no buts" and "in perpetuity," she replied: "That is what we have promised. There is nothing that has happened that has made me change my mind," according to AOL's report on the conference.
She also said the government was "going after the elderly" and argued that welfare reform should focus on getting more people into work rather than on pensioners receiving £10,000 to £12,000 a year from the state pension, AOL reported.
The caveat in her pledge
Badenoch's commitment comes with a condition. She has not promised that a future Conservative government would pass legislation to restore the triple lock in its current form if Labour changes it first. "I have said that we are keeping this policy, but if they take that money and they spend it on something that we can't get it back from, then it would be difficult for me," she said, according to AOL. She added that she would not "lie to your listeners just so I can get votes."
Labour's planned change from 2030
On 29 September 2026, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced at the Labour Party conference that the current triple lock will continue for the rest of this Parliament, but will be adjusted from April 2030, according to a GOV.UK press release. From that date, the state pension will rise each year by at least inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher, with an additional mechanism to keep pace with earnings growth over the longer term. The release states that "nobody's pension will ever go down."
The government says the adjustment will generate savings of £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s, rising to £50 billion a year by 2050, according to the GOV.UK release and a report by Politics.co.uk. Those savings are intended to fund a new National Care Service offering free personal care for older people based on need rather than ability to pay. An independent commission led by Baroness Casey is due to report on implementation in summer 2027, and the service itself would be introduced in the next Parliament, in phases, and would be funded without borrowing, the press release says.
Reaction
Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham criticised the plan, saying that funding the National Care Service by taking money from people earning around £12,500 a year was "morally wrong," and asked why the government was not instead considering wealth-based taxation, according to Politics.co.uk.
Badenoch has framed the change as Labour abandoning pensioners, while Burnham has compared the proposed National Care Service to the creation of the NHS, according to the same report.
Triple lock: current rule vs planned change from April 2030| Now (until April 2030) | From April 2030 (planned) |
|---|
| Annual rise based on | Highest of: wage growth, CPI inflation, or 2.5% |
|---|
| 2026/27 full new State Pension | £241.30/week (£12,548/year) |
|---|
| Stated government savings | — |
|---|
| Stated purpose of savings | — |
|---|
Questions
- What is the state pension triple lock?
- It is the rule used to set the annual rise in the UK state pension, currently the highest of average wage growth, CPI inflation, or 2.5%, according to government guidance.
- Is the triple lock being scrapped?
- Not immediately. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says the current triple lock will continue until April 2030, after which it will be replaced by a rule based on inflation or 2.5%, with earnings tracked over time, according to a GOV.UK press release.
- What has Kemi Badenoch promised on the triple lock?
- She says keeping the triple lock remains Conservative policy "no ifs, no buts," but has not committed to restoring it if Labour's savings from changing it have already been spent, according to AOL's reporting on her conference remarks.
- Why does the government want to change the triple lock?
- It says the savings — projected at £15 billion a year by the late 2030s, rising to £50 billion by 2050 — will fund a new National Care Service offering free personal care for older people, according to the GOV.UK release.
- How much is the state pension now?
- For 2026/27, the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week (£12,548 a year), according to Fidelity's analysis, with a rise to £250.70 a week due in April 2027.
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