Torsten Bell becomes new pensions minister following Tulip Siddiq resignation

Torsten Bell, a former adviser to Ed Miliband who went on to become boss of the Resolution Foundation, an influential think tank, has been named the new pensions minister.

He replaces Emma Reynolds who spent six months in the role after being appointed when Keir Starmer became prime minister last summer.

The mini reshuffle was prompted by Tulip Siddiq’s resignation yesterday (14 January), with Reynolds replacing Siddiq as economic secretary to the Treasury. Siddiq quit her ministerial role amid allegations of corruption, which she denies.

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Bell is the 18th pensions minister. He has also become a Treasury minister, meaning he will work across both the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The appointment was welcomed by the pensions industry due to his experience at the Resolution Foundation. Zoe Alexander, director of policy and advocacy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), commented: “Torsten is already well known and respected within the pensions industry. We look forward to engaging with him on the Pensions Review in what is a critical year for pensions policy.”

Lisa Picardo, chief business officer UK of PensionBee, a pension provider, said she was keen “to see his innovative approaches that prioritise savers and bring much-needed progress to the pensions industry”.

She added: “We are looking forward to seeing whether Torsten Bell – with a background of campaigning for high retirement living standards – can revive the necessary discussions about increasing automatic enrolment pension contributions.”

Who is Torsten Bell MP?

Torsten Bell became an MP last July when Labour won the general election. He is MP for Swansea West, a seat he won with a healthy 8,515 majority.

A decade ago he was an adviser to Ed Miliband and reportedly came up with the idea of the widely-mocked “EdStone”, which showed the party’s 2015 election pledges on an 8ft stone tablet.

Bell went on to become the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, a centre-Left think tank focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes. It has campaigned on issues ranging from child poverty and home ownership to reforming inheritance tax and pensions auto-enrolment.

Bell is a respected economist: he became special adviser to Alistair Darling during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, and described the 2022 mini-Budget as "the biggest unforced economic policy error of my lifetime".

His appointment to the Treasury, as well as pensions minister, will be seen by some people as an attempt to beef up the economic heft of the department.

Bell’s promotion comes a day after Olaf Henricson-Bell, his twin brother, was made the head of the No 10 policy unit.

What are the main priorities for the new pensions minister?

There is plenty going on in the world of pensions that Bell will quickly need to get up to speed with.

First, the Pension Review. A review into the pensions market was a key manifesto pledge from Labour during last year’s general election campaign. The consultation deadline for responses to the first part of the Pension Review closes tomorrow (16 January).

This looks at how providers can build scale and boost investment in assets such as infrastructure to boost the UK economy as well as pension scheme member outcomes.

The second stage of the Pension Review is rumoured to have been delayed. This was due to address issues with auto-enrolment and to help get more people saving for retirement.

Alexander at the PLSA said: “We are optimistic that [Bell] will bring the leadership that is needed to make progress on both phases of the Pension Review and look forward to working with him to continue to deliver a system that is adequate, affordable and fair, in the interests of UK savers.”

Gareth Tancred, chief executive of the PMI, a pensions professional body, welcomed Torsten Bell’s appointment, saying he will “bring valuable experience and understanding to the role from his time as CEO of the Resolution Foundation”.

Tancred believes “the delay to the second part of the Pension Review provides an opportunity to fundamentally consider not just adequacy but also how automatic enrolment can be evolved and modernised to both support everyday savers but also reflect how people are making ends meet in retirement”.

Meanwhile, Sophia Singleton, president of the Society of Pension Professionals, said that Bell was becoming pensions minister at “a particularly important time for pensions policy with various consultations in train, pension dashboards, Value for Money and other projects mid-progress and a much-needed pensions adequacy review having appeared to have stalled under the previous minister”.

While the tricky issue of Waspi compensation was dealt with before Christmas, there are still other contentious subjects awaiting the new pensions minister.

For example, the question mark over the state pension triple lock, in terms of affordability and fairness, doesn’t seem to be going away.

Bell will also be under pressure to boost the take-up of Pension Credit. Only two-thirds of people entitled to Pension Credit received the benefit in 2022-2023, according to the latest government data. This means up to 760,000 households that are eligible for the support aren't claiming it.

For all the big pension changes happening this year, check out Key pension changes in 2025.