Torsten Bell

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Torsten Bell

| honorific_suffix = MP

| image = Official portrait of Torsten Bell MP crop 2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| birth_name = Torsten Henricson Bell{{London Gazette |issue=64465 |date=19 July 2024 |page=14091}}

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1982|09}}

| birth_place = Greenwich, London, England{{Cite news |last=Eaton |first=George |date=4 January 2023 |title="This country doesn't invest in its own future": Torsten Bell on why the UK is being hit hardest |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2023/01/britain-invest-own-future-torsten-bell-uk-fell-rivals |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608225033/https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2023/01/britain-invest-own-future-torsten-bell-uk-fell-rivals |archive-date=8 June 2023 |access-date=16 June 2024 |work=The New Statesman}}

| citizenship = United Kingdom

| alma_mater = Mansfield College, Oxford

| organization =

| known_for = Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation (2015–2024)

| party = Labour

| children = 2{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Torsten |title=Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back. |date=13 June 2024 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=9781529932409 |edition=1st |publication-date=13 June 2024 |language=English}}

| office = Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions

| term_start = 14 January 2025

| term_end =

| primeminister = Keir Starmer

| predecessor = Emma Reynolds

| successor =

| office1 = Parliamentary Secretary for the Treasury

| term_start1 = 14 January 2025

| term_end1 =

| primeminister1 = Keir Starmer

| predecessor1 = Emma Reynolds

| successor1 =

| office2 = Member of Parliament
for Swansea West

| termstart2 = 4 July 2024

| predecessor2 = Geraint Davies

| majority2 = 8,515 (23.9%)

}}

Torsten Henricson Bell (born September 1982) is a Labour politician, economist, author, and newspaper columnist, serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea West since 2024.{{Cite news |title=Swansea West – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/W07000108 |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} He was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions in January 2025.{{Cite web |title=Ministerial Appointments: 14 January 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-14-january-2025 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}

Previously he was the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an economic thinktank, from 2015 to 2024.

He was appointed to the Resolution Foundation in 2015 after having served as Ed Miliband's Director of policy, and as a Treasury civil servant who became special adviser to Alistair Darling during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.{{cite news |title=Ed Miliband's former head of policy appointed director of living standards think tank |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ed-miliband-s-former-head-of-policy-appointed-director-of-living-standards-think-tank-10486924.html |access-date=7 October 2022 |publisher=Independent |date=4 September 2015}}

Early life and education

Born in London to an English father and Swedish mother, Bell was educated at the The Judd School in Tonbridge going on to graduate in philosophy, politics and economics at Mansfield College, Oxford.{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/torsten-bell-olaf-new-pensions-minister-b1205297.html |title=Who is Torsten Bell? The new pensions minister pegged as Britain's future chancellor |work=THeStandard |date=16 January 2025 |first=Emma |last=Loffhagan}}{{cite web |title=The Mansfield Magazine 2023 |publisher=Mansfield College |page=57 |url=https://issuu.com/mansfieldoxford/docs/mansfield_magazine_final_issuu_}} At Oxford, he was editor of the student newspaper Cherwell.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/sep/08/mondaymediasection.studentmediaawards |title=Media Guardian: Student Media Awards |author= |date=2003-09-08 |website=The Guardian |access-date=2024-06-01}}

Early career

Since 2017, he has written a column in The Observer named Hidden Gems from the World of Research.{{cite web |title=Torsten Bell {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/torsten-bell |website=www.theguardian.com}}

Bell writes regularly about poverty and inequality in the United Kingdom,{{cite news |last1=Elliott |first1=Larry |last2=Allen |first2=Katie |title=UK faces return to inequality of Thatcher years, says report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/31/theresa-may-inequality-margaret-thatcher-resolution-foundation |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=31 January 2017}} about the North–South divide in England and the levelling-up policy of the British government.{{cite news |title=Britain's Unbridgeable Divide |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/06/britain-brexit-economic-impact-boris-johnson/661332/ |access-date=7 October 2022 |publisher=The Atlantic |date=20 June 2022}} He described the September 2022 United Kingdom mini-budget as "the biggest unforced economic policy error of my lifetime."{{cite news |title=Policy errors set Chancellor on course to announce 'Osborne-level' spending cuts to balance the books |url=https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/policy-errors-set-chancellor-on-course-to-announce-osborne-level-spending-cuts-to-balance-the-books/ |access-date=7 October 2022 |publisher=Resolution Foundation |date=29 September 2022}}

Bell has been associated with the coordination of policy developments for the Labour Party.{{cite news |date=15 June 2014 |title=The real clever cogs in Labour's machine |publisher=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/66d91c24-e65e-11e3-9a20-00144feabdc0 |access-date=7 October 2022}} He has received recognition across various factions within the party for his attention to detail.{{cite news |date=15 April 2015 |title=The making of Ed Miliband |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/15/the-making-of-ed-miliband |access-date=7 October 2022}}

In November 2022, Bell was appointed Honorary Professor at the UCL Policy Lab.{{cite news |title=Torsten Bell appointed Honorary Professor at the UCL Policy Lab |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/news/2022/nov/torsten-bell-appointed-honorary-professor-ucl-policy-lab |access-date=10 November 2022 |publisher=UCL |date=9 November 2022}}

In September 2023, Bell was named as the tenth most powerful left-wing figure in the UK by the New Statesman.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-05-17 |title=The New Statesman's left power list |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}

Parliamentary career

In May 2024, Bell was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the seat of Swansea West in the 2024 general election, which raised some criticism from local members for his having "no connection" to the area and "no Welsh connection".{{Cite web |date=2024-06-02 |title=Gwadu bod ymgeiswyr Llafur yn cael eu 'gorfodi' ar Gymru |url=https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw/erthyglau/cj55mp811yzo |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=BBC Cymru Fyw |language=cy}} Despite this, in July 2024, Bell was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Swansea West constituency, with 41.4% share of the vote, and a majority of 8,515.

From July 2024 to January 2025, Bell was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office.{{Cite web|url=https://labour.org.uk/about-us/the-cabinet/|title=Cabinet|website=The Labour Party}} Thereafter he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions, replacing Emma Reynolds, who was promoted following the resignation of Tulip Siddiq.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-14 |title=Torsten Bell appointed as Pensions Minister as the role changes hands again - IFA Magazine |url=https://ifamagazine.com/torsten-bell-appointed-as-pensions-minister-as-the-role-changes-hands-again/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-14 |title=Bell named pensions minister as Reynolds replaces Siddiq |url=https://www.professionaladviser.com/news/4395540/bell-named-pensions-minister-reynolds-replaces-siddiq |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.professionaladviser.com |language=en}}

Personal life

Bell's twin brother, Olaf, is a civil servant.{{Cite web |last=Johnston |first=John |date=2021-10-27 |title=Saved By The Bells: The Influential Twin Brothers Who Have Held Some Of The Biggest Jobs In Westminster |url=https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/saved-by-the-bells-the-influential-twin-brothers-who-have-held-some-of-the-biggest-jobs-in-politics |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Politics Home |language=en}}