Women are more likely to vote for a political party that keeps the Triple Lock, cuts council tax or pledges to avoid increasing the state pension.

A survey for Hargreaves Lansdown asked what financial policies would make people most likely to vote for a party.

The most popular policies among women were keeping the Triple Lock (34%), followed by cutting council tax (27%), and pledging not to increase the state pension age (25%).

The top two matched answers from men, but men put raising taxes to pay for the NHS and cutting income tax ahead of state pension age promises.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s no great mystery about what women want from this election. Anyone who asks and listens to the answer will get a very clear picture.

“Women are worried about how far their money needs to stretch – especially in retirement. It’s why two of the three things that would make them vote for a party relate to how much state pension they’ll receive and when they’ll get it.”

She said women were also worried by council tax, partly because it’s not reduced to reflect the fact they tend to be on lower average incomes than men, and it’s on the rise.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, at HJL, said: “Whoever is elected has an opportunity to make a real difference to the money women have in retirement. It’s not just a question of pledging consistency in state support, the long-term solution also needs to address the shortfalls in the system that build a gender pensions gap throughout their lives.

“By ensuring women have the savings they need to fall back on, they won’t have to worry about any potential government pulling the state pension rug out from underneath their feet.”

She pointed out that the gender pensions gap is much bigger than the gender pay gap, at 35% but added that there’s more that can be done, particularly in relation to the information women receive about their pensions at key times.

She said: “For example, many don’t realise the impact of career breaks on their pension, and they don’t realise the difference it can make if they or their partner continues to pay into their pension while they’re not working.”

 • Figures from a survey of 2,000 people by Opinium for HL in April.