The future of the Conservative's pension policies are now uncertain as Prime Minister Theresa May has formed a minority government backed by the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.

It follows a night when the Conservatives unexpectedly lost the majority in the General Election. At the time of publication, the Conservatives had won the most number of seats with 318 but not enough to reach the 326 needed to secure a majority. The exit poll suggested this result at 10pm last night as the polls closed. However, current Pensions Minister Richard Harrington has kept his seat in his Watford constituency, although he may be replaced in his role.

Currently, Labour have won 261 seats, a gain of 29 since 2015. The Liberal Democrats won 12 seats and SNP were hit in Scotland winning 35 seats with the Conservatives taking several. The Green Party secured one seat but UKIP did not win any seats. In Northern Ireland the DUP won 10 seats and Sinn Fein won seven. Plaid Cymru won four seats in Wales.

The seat for Kensington is the only one that remains to be announced, which reports suggest could transfer to Labour from the Conservatives.

Prior to the election, the Conservatives announced they would end the triple lock on the state pension in 2020 and replace it with a double lock. However, both Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and DUP pledged to keep the policy. Labour also said it would not increase the state pension above the age of 66, in contrast with the Conservative’s plans to increase the pension to 68. The DUP, Labour and SNP have also said they will help the women hit by the state pension increase born in the 1950s.

With regards to workplace pensions, the Conservative Party said it will continue to support the expansion of auto-enrolment by extending it to small employers and making it available to the self-employed. It will also continue to promote long-term savings and pensions products, such as the Lifetime ISA, to “encourage and incentivise more people to make provision for long-term needs”. In contrast, the SNP said it would end “gimmicks” such as the Lifetime ISA. The Liberal Democrats also pledged to review pensions tax relief, something not suggested by the other major parties.

Following the high profile BHS pension scandal, the Conservatives plan to tighten the rules surrounding business owners who “abuse pension funds and put them at risk” for their own “lavish enrichment”. Labour also plans to amend the takeover regime to ensure that businesses identified as being systematically important have a clear plan in place to protect workers and pensioners when a company is taken over because “workers shouldn’t suffer when a company is sold”.

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