What the election result means for your money

Friday 13th December 2019

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

Your money under Tory rule

Following the Conservatives’ win, let’s revisit the party’s manifesto pledges and what they could mean for your pocket over the next five years:

We’ll almost certainly leave the EU in January 2020, and begin trade talks with the bloc

30 million workers will pay £100 less in National Insurance thanks to a higher threshold

Around 250,000 primary schools will have funding to offer summer holiday care

The state pension “triple lock” stays, meaning it'll increase by the highest of inflation, 2.5%, or average wage increase

We’ll see moves to create a “fairer rental market” with a combination of housing policies

Student nurses will once again receive a free bursary

Pound and shares boost

Sterling saw a 1.5% boost to its value to $1.33. The rise was fuelled by Conservative majority removing continued uncertainty over Brexit. The value is the highest against the dollar since June last year. It also jumped to a three-and-a-half-year high against the euro. In the markets, the FTSE 100 followed suit with 1.8% surge in the share index, and the more UK-focused FTSE 250 jumped by 4%.

2020 Brexit?

Boris Johnson has mentioned ‘getting Brexit done’ a few times this month, butcan he really do it by the promised date - end of 2020? In January we’ll begin the process of negotiating a new trade relationship with the EU. One thing in his favour is the prospect of a “pared-down” down deal that would allow us to reach a basic trade agreement fairly easily. Against him? One of the biggest barriers is there’s no UK team in place to haggle for a deal, whereas the EU has a crack force of negotiators ready to get the best agreement possible.