Mrs May said: “What I would say to pensioners is just look what the Conservatives in government have done.

“Pensioners today £1,250 a year better off as a result of action that has been taken.

“We were very clear about the need to ensure that we support people in their old age and that’s exactly what we have done.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hammond has hinted that the Conservatives will not repeat promises made in 2015 not to increase tax.

The Chancellor told the IMF spring meeting in Washington that pledges not to increase income tax, national insurance and VAT “do constrain the ability of the government to manage the economy flexibly”.

When asked repeatedly whether the Tories will reaffirm their 2015 tax promises he said the pledges "will be different".

He said: “I’m a Conservative I didn’t come into politics because I believed in higher taxes. I believe in lower taxes. And I want to see Britain as a high skill, high unemployment, high growth, low tax economy. I say low tax, I mean sensibly taxed economy.

“So I’m not in the business of having some ideological desire to increase taxes. But I also think we need to manage our economy sensibly and sustainably.

“We need to address the remainder of our deficit. Get our fiscal accounts back in to balance and it's self-evidently clear that the commitments that were made in 2015 manifesto did and do today constrain the ability of the government to manage the economy flexibly.”