Reform UK Pledges Tax-Free Threshold Rise to £15,000 as Conference Flagship Policy

Reform UK has announced its flagship economic policy: raising the income tax-free personal allowance from the current £12,570 to £15,000. Economic spokesman Robert Jenrick pledged on the BBC to push the change through in the first 100 days of a Reform government, saying it would deliver "money that people really need right now."

Cost and Funding

The party estimates the tax cut would cost £17.7 billion in its first year, rising to £21 billion by year five. To cover the expense, Reform says it would cut public spending by £80 billion — including £10 billion saved by scrapping net-zero programmes. The party says 2.9 million people would stop paying income tax altogether under the plan, and most workers would save around £500 a year.

Jenrick pointed to the long freeze on personal allowances as a driving injustice, noting that the £12,570 threshold had been unchanged since 2021 and that Labour had frozen it until 2031. "1.3 million were dragged into paying tax last year alone," he said, adding that the freeze now meant the state pension was being taxed. Jenrick told the BBC that if he failed to deliver the cut in his first Budget, he would resign as chancellor.

Donations Scandal Overshadows Announcement

The policy launch was partly overshadowed by an ongoing controversy over allegations that senior Reform aides had discussed schemes to funnel foreign donations to the party through a UK intermediary, in apparent breach of electoral law. Jenrick confirmed those aides had been suspended pending an internal investigation and dismissed the incident as "loose pub talk" that did not reflect the party's actual conduct.