Cost of living: where the UK parties stand
Can I afford the essentials — food, energy, the bills?
Independent, source-checked analysis of how each party’s policies would affect this — judged on the evidence, without telling the system who proposed them. How this works.
Labour — 17 policies affect this: 9 mixed · 6 helps · 1 little effect · 1 genuinely contested. Compare interactively →
Reduce Household Costs and Support Families — helps. This policy aims to cut household costs through cheaper energy, lower food prices by removing trade barriers, and a tax-lock on income tax, NI and VAT — but most of the bigger gains depend on reforms …
Implement a New Deal for Working People — helps. This package raises the minimum wage to a genuine living wage, bans exploitative zero-hours contracts, and gives workers day-one sick pay — all of which should put more money in the pockets of low-pai…
Reform Energy Market Regulation and Upgrade the National Grid — helps. This policy aims to reduce energy bills by cutting standing charges, strengthening consumer protections, and upgrading the grid to bring in cheaper clean power — but the biggest bill savings are long-…
Warm Homes Plan for Energy Efficiency and Reduced Fuel Poverty — helps. The Warm Homes Plan would likely cut energy bills for households who receive upgrades, with low-income families in leaky homes estimated to save around £230 a year. The main caveat is that the funding…
Expand Early Education and Childcare — helps. Expanding government-funded childcare places should reduce childcare costs for working families, freeing up real disposable income — but only if enough staff can be recruited to actually deliver the n…
Conservative — 33 policies affect this: 16 helps · 9 mixed · 4 hurts · 2 little effect · 2 genuinely contested. Compare interactively →
Abolish Self-Employed National Insurance — helps. Abolishing self-employed National Insurance would put more money in the pockets of around 4 million self-employed workers, with a typical earner on £28,000 saving over £1,500 a year by 2029 — but the …
Introduce Triple Lock Plus for Pensioners — helps. Triple Lock Plus would give around 8 million pensioners a modest tax cut — roughly £100 in year one, rising to about £250–£275 by 2030 — by stopping the State Pension being dragged into income tax. Ho…
Expand Free Childcare for Working Parents — helps. This policy could save eligible working families around £6,900 a year on childcare costs, which is a significant boost to household budgets. However, provider funding pressures and workforce shortages…
Reform Child Benefit Household Income Threshold — helps. This policy raises the point at which families lose Child Benefit to a combined household income of £120,000, putting around £1,500 a year back in the pockets of over 700,000 households — but the bene…
Maintain Record Flood Defence Funding — helps. Maintaining £5.6bn in flood defence funding helps protect homes and farms from costly flood damage, which can devastate household finances. The benefit is real but indirect and long-term, and some low…
Liberal Democrat — 43 policies affect this: 25 helps · 7 mixed · 5 little effect · 4 genuinely contested · 2 hurts. Compare interactively →
Freeze Rail Fares and Simplify Ticketing — helps. Freezing rail fares saves regular commuters hundreds of pounds a year and nudges overall inflation down, giving real relief on a significant household cost. The main catch is that per-household gains …
Boost Bus Services and Empower Local Authorities — helps. Maintaining the £2 bus fare cap directly helps lower-income people afford travel, and expanding bus routes could reduce transport costs for rural residents with few alternatives. But the fare cap is e…
New Nationwide Active Travel Strategy — helps. Repairing potholes and roads could modestly reduce vehicle repair bills for drivers, and better cycling infrastructure could help some households avoid running a second car — but the headline active t…
Reform Taxation of International Flights and Introduce Private Jet Super Tax — helps. This policy is designed to cut costs for ordinary households who fly occasionally, while raising taxes on frequent flyers, private jets, and premium cabin tickets. The gains for typical families are r…
Repair UK-EU Trading Relationship — helps. This policy aims to reduce trade barriers with the EU, which evidence suggests could lower food prices and business costs for ordinary households. The biggest uncertainty is whether the EU will agree …
Reform UK — 31 policies affect this: 19 mixed · 8 hurts · 3 genuinely contested · 1 helps. Compare interactively →
Abolish inheritance tax for estates under £2 million — hurts. Abolishing IHT for estates under £2 million would primarily benefit wealthier households and could reduce government revenue by billions, which would likely mean cuts to public services, higher taxes …
Scrap Net Zero targets and related subsidies — hurts. Scrapping Net Zero subsidies is projected by most independent analysts to raise household energy bills and increase the UK's exposure to volatile gas prices, outweighing any potential savings from red…
Unlock North Sea oil, gas, and shale reserves — hurts. Expanding North Sea production and trialling shale gas are unlikely to cut household energy bills, because UK prices follow global markets that domestic output cannot move. The policy's companion meas…
Introduce 2-year undergraduate courses — helps. Two-year degrees would let students spend about 20% less on tuition and living costs and enter paid work a year earlier, easing the debt burden — but the gain is long-term and affects only future grad…
Enforce a 2-strike rule for job offers for benefit claimants — hurts. This policy would withdraw benefits from claimants who don't find work within four months or after two job offers, which evidence links to greater food hardship, debt, and poverty — especially for the…
Green — 23 policies affect this: 10 mixed · 8 helps · 4 genuinely contested · 1 hurts. Compare interactively →
Restore and improve disability benefits and support — helps. Restoring disability benefits with a 5% uplift and keeping PIP as cash payments would directly boost the disposable income of millions of disabled people who face higher everyday costs. The main cavea…
Invest in home insulation, green heating, and climate adaptation for homes — helps. This £45bn programme to insulate and retrofit homes could meaningfully cut energy bills for millions of households, especially lower-income ones in poorly insulated homes. But benefits are years away,…
Promote a circular economy and right to repair — helps. This policy could save households money on repairs, replacements and energy bills, but much of what it promises already exists in UK law and the additional savings are modest and uncertain. The bigges…
Introduce a £15 minimum wage and 10:1 pay ratio cap — helps. A £15 minimum wage would raise take-home pay for up to 14 million workers, directly helping people afford essentials — but there is a real risk of some job losses and modest price rises that could par…
Increase Universal Credit, benefits, and pensions — helps. This policy would put significantly more money in the pockets of some of the poorest households — people on Universal Credit, disabled people, carers, and families with three or more children — helpin…