Badenoch backs triple lock as Conservative conference opens

Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives would keep the pension triple lock. She made the commitment in an interview with BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg as the party opened its conference in Birmingham. BBC

Kuenssberg asked why Badenoch would not support Andy Burnham's plan to end the lock. BBC Burnham has said he would end the current system from 2030 to help pay for a new national care service. BBC

The triple lock raises the state pension each year by the highest of three figures: price rises, average wage rises, or 2.5%. City AM It acts like a floor under the yearly increase. It means pensions go up every April by at least 2.5%. The system has run for 16 years. BBC

The Conservative conference handbook says the Coalition government brought in the lock in 2011 to end decades of pensioner poverty. The party's 2024 manifesto said the Triple Lock had lifted the basic State Pension by £3,700 since 2010.

Badenoch called the lock the "right policy" before the conference. City AM She held her position under questioning. She told the Press Association that Burnham's figures on changing the policy "don't add up" and said the change would not pay for a national care service. She added that the rising cost of the lock would not be a problem if the economy grew faster.

The broader context here is how parties balance certainty for pensioners with other demands on public money. A guaranteed floor makes the politics predictable. It also raises costs sharply when prices or wages jump. That tension is why the lock survives reviews and why any plan to replace it faces quick questions about costs and who loses out.

Looking at what this means for conference week, Badenoch's answer closes one line of attack and opens another. It gives Conservative activists and candidates a clear line for interviews and canvassing. It leaves ministers and Labour rivals to argue that care needs a different funding deal. The points to watch are the 2030 start date Burnham named, how the care service is defined, and whether growth is presented as the way to be generous to today's pensioners while keeping the system affordable for future taxpayers.