A few months ago, my prediction that Torsten Bell would be our next Chancellor was met with a degree of incredulity at a gathering. Having only entered Parliament last year and with zero front bench experience under his belt, the proposition did sound rather far-fetched.
|  | Torsten Bell’s Treasury takeover makes radical tax rises more likely tha...Appointment increases likelihood that wealth taxes will be hard-wired into autumn Budget |
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The truth, however, is that the MP for West Swansea has wielded remarkable influence at Westminster for almost a whole decade in his role as the chief executive of the think tank Resolution Foundation, prior to being parachuted into a safe Labour seat.
A former Treasury civil servant, Bell has advised Ed Miliband and Alistair Darling and was named the 10th most influential figure in the New Statesman’s Left Power List in 2023, ahead of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former prime minister and global influencer Tony Blair.
With his “ubiquitous media presence”, as noted by the New Statesman, Bell has long been treated by the media as one of the most prominent economic thinkers of our time. Such is the influence of the Left-wing Resolution Foundation that it has shaped government policy even when the Labour Party was not in power. George Osborne referenced the think tank’s report when he announced the National Living Wage in his July 2015 Budget, which introduced a higher minimum wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and over.
| | The minimum wage was meant to help workers. It’s hurting themEmployers are being forced to cut headcount amid sharp increases in the cost of labour |
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A few months ago, my prediction that Torsten Bell would be our next Chancellor was met with a degree of incredulity at a gathering. Having only entered Parliament last year and with zero front bench experience under his belt, the proposition did sound rather far-fetched.
Torsten Bell’s Treasury takeover makes radical tax rises more likely tha...
Appointment increases likelihood that wealth taxes will be hard-wired into autumn Budget
A former Treasury civil servant, Bell has advised Ed Miliband and Alistair Darling and was named the 10th most influential figure in the New Statesman’s Left Power List in 2023, ahead of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former prime minister and global influencer Tony Blair.
With his “ubiquitous media presence”, as noted by the New Statesman, Bell has long been treated by the media as one of the most prominent economic thinkers of our time. Such is the influence of the Left-wing Resolution Foundation that it has shaped government policy even when the Labour Party was not in power. George Osborne referenced the think tank’s report when he announced the National Living Wage in his July 2015 Budget, which introduced a higher minimum wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and over.
The minimum wage was meant to help workers. It’s hurting them
Employers are being forced to cut headcount amid sharp increases in the cost of labour