Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick has promised that, if the party wins the next general election, it would lift the income tax personal allowance to £15,000 within its first 100 days in power.
Mr Jenrick, who is being lined up as Chancellor in a potential Reform government, said the move would be designed to reduce pressure on millions of working Britons struggling with the cost of living.
The personal allowance — the amount people can earn before they start paying income tax — has remained fixed at £12,570 since 2021.
That freeze is currently scheduled to stay in place until 2031, even as criticism grows over what opponents have branded a “stealth tax” on workers as wages rise.
Speaking at Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham on Saturday, Mr Jenrick outlined the proposal, describing it as what would be the largest increase in the personal allowance ever introduced.
He said it would be his ‘mission’ to deliver the tax cut and promised to resign as Chancellor if he failed to reach the objective within the first weeks of a Reform government.
As part of a pledge to ‘make work pay again’, Mr Jenrick told Reform members: ‘The task is mighty. The hour is late. But our cause is right, and our country is worth it.
‘They tried to knock us down. We’re still standing. Now let’s get Britain standing again.’
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick today vowed to raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 within the first 100 days of Reform winning the next general election
Mr Jenrick, who would be Chancellor in a Reform government, pledged to ease the burden on millions of Brits if his party enters office
Reform is looking to get its Birmingham conference back on track after the first day of the gathering on Friday was overshadowed by a fresh donations row
Reform estimates hiking the personal allowance to £15,000 would save the majority of taxpayers around £500 a year and would benefit around 40million people overall.
It will also take 2.9million people out of income tax altogether and ensure the state pension remains untaxed, the party said.
Under what is known as ‘fiscal drag’, millions of Britons have been dragged deeper into the tax system due to the freezing of the personal allowance and income tax thresholds in recent years.
Both Labour and Tory chancellors have been accused of ‘stealth taxes’ by failing to increase allowances and thresholds in line with earnings growth prompted by the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Jenrick argued the freezing of the personal allowance since 2021 under both Labour and Tory administrations has left the allowance £3,500 lower than it otherwise would be.
In his conference speech, he said that ‘there has never, in our lifetimes, been a worse time to be a worker in Britain’.
‘As Chancellor, I will wake each morning with one purpose,’ Reform’s Treasury spokesman added.
‘To make Britain a better place to be a worker than it was the day before. In the first 100 days of a Reform government, in our first Budget, we will raise the tax-free personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,000.
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Reform said the cost to the Treasury of raising the personal allowance would be £17.7billion in the first year, rising to £21billion in the fifth year of the next parliament.
The party is promising to fund the tax cut through £80billion of savings in government spending it has already identified.
This includes slashing billions of pounds from the welfare bill, Net Zero spending, and the foreign aid budget.
Mr Jenrick used his speech on Saturday to challenge Prime Minister Andy Burnham to match Reform’s pledge.
‘The hard choice for Burnham and for us is exactly the same,’ he said. ‘It’s either welfare waste, foreign aid and migrants — or the British worker. We choose the worker.’
At the last general election in 2024, Reform promised to raise the personal allowance to £20,000.
Mr Jenrick confirmed this remains the party’s long-term aim, saying: ‘When we can – only when it is paid for in full – I will go further, step-by-step, until we’ve reached Reform’s ambition of a £20,000 tax free allowance.’
Reform is looking to get its Birmingham conference back on track after the first day of the gathering on Friday was overshadowed by a fresh donations row.
Appearing on Times Radio earlier on Saturday, Mr Jenrick said two senior party aides are permanently suspended from their roles after undercover filming appeared to show them discussing how to disguise foreign donations.
Senior Reform figures have given conflicting accounts of whether James Orr and Dan Jukes’ suspension is permanent, or temporary and pending an investigation.
Mr Jenrick said: ‘They have been permanently suspended. There is obviously due process, and so there is going to be an investigation, and we want to learn all the facts, give them obviously a right of reply.
‘But Nigel (Farage) has acted very swiftly, as soon as he saw the footage. Some of their comments, it’s fair to say, were very disappointing and inappropriate.’
Pressed on the nature of the suspension, Mr Jenrick said: ‘Well, they have left the conference. They’ve been suspended from their roles.’
Mr Jenrick was later asked whether he still believed quitting the Conservatives for Reform was worth it after the scrutiny his new party had faced in recent months, and told the broadcaster it was ‘one of the best decisions that I have ever made’.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: ‘Robert Jenrick only seems to be interested in making people better off when Reform UK are trying to distract from the latest scandal engulfing their party. The public will see right through it.
‘Farage and Reform are funding policy after policy through mystery spending cuts, which could put local schools, hospitals and other vital public services at risk.
‘Meanwhile as soon as Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, he prioritised cutting taxes to provide much needed breathing space for families and businesses on the cost of living.
‘Labour remains determined to make people better off and drive good growth in every postcode.’