“I don’t think Torsten Bell sees himself as being the pension minister for more than about the next 10 minutes,” said David Moffat, executive chair of The Platforms Association.
The industry has expressed plenty of concern about his aspirations. “I always get quite nervous with someone like Torsten Bell as the minister, because he wants to make a name for himself in a space that really you shouldn’t be able to,” added one industry figure, granted like others in this article anonymity to speak freely.
“He definitely sees himself in cabinet,” they said. “He does not see himself being a junior minister for long.” An individual close to Bell said they had never heard him talk about becoming chancellor, but asked: “What MP hasn’t thought about if they were prime minister one day?”
Bell has worked closely with the current Chancellor Rachel Reeves. | Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Betting odds currently have Bell as the fifth most likely candidate to become the next chancellor, behind party grandees like Ed Miliband and Yvette Cooper. With whispers of a reshuffle if Labour performs poorly in this week’s local elections, it could be the opportunity for Bell to compete with his boss.
Shadow City Minister Mark Garnier, who has frequently clashed with the pensions minister, told POLITICO that Bell thinks he could be chancellor, though of course argued he shouldn’t be. “There are an awful lot of people I come across who sound plausible, and who think they can do these jobs, and clearly can’t,” he said.
Reserve power
But a defining moment of Bell’s career in parliament hasn’t gone the way he wished.