In several countries across Europe, ‘pensioners parties’ sit in parliament expressly to reflect the interests of older voters. The most successful is perhaps Slovenia, where the Democratic Party of Pensioners had a parliamentary presence from 1992 to 2022, and often made up part of the governing coalition. In the UK, attempts to create pensioners parties have faltered. Now, in a desperate grasp for survival, the Conservatives are attempting to become one.

Rishi Sunak has kicked off the first full week of the campaign with a policy to further entrench the Tory support of better-off older people. Where once the triple lock was enough, now he has unveiled the ‘Triple Lock Plus’. This maintains the same inflation-busting guaranteed increases but with an added perk – the personal tax threshold will rise for pensioners too, keeping those gains out of the hands of the HMRC. Those who work for their money won’t be so lucky.

In successful elections, you rely on your core vote and take the fight outwards to those who waver

It’s a pretty craven bit of electioneering. Even though the Tories have largely abandoned working-age voters, and vice versa, cuts to National Insurance went down badly with those too old to work. Sunak himself recently got a broadside on daytime TV for ‘hating’ pensioners – while Labour started their campaign with full-page newspaper ads reassuring older voters. The Tory party is worried that without some........

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