Torsten Bell (b. 1982) is the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an economic thinktank. He was appointed in 2015, having been Ed Miliband's head of policy and a Treasury civil servant who became special adviser to Alistair Darling.[1]
Bell's parents are Clem Henricson, a policy analyst and activist, and Bill Bell, an academic and children’s rights advocate. His twin brother, Olaf, is a civil servant.[2]
Bell has been associated with the coordination of policy developments for the Labour Party.[3] He has received recognition across various factions within the party for his attention to detail.[4]
Bell writes regularly about poverty and inequality in the United Kingdom,[5] about the North–South divide in England and the levelling-up policy of the British government.[6] He described the September 2022 United Kingdom mini-budget as "the biggest unforced economic policy error of my lifetime."[7]
In November 2022, Bell was appointed Honorary Professor at the UCL Policy Lab.[8]
In September 2023, Bell was named as the tenth most powerful left wing figure in the UK by the New Statesman.[9]
References edit
- ^ "Ed Miliband's former head of policy appointed director of living standards think tank". Independent. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ Johnston, John (2021-10-27). "Saved By The Bells: The Influential Twin Brothers Who Have Held Some Of The Biggest Jobs In Westminster". Politics Home. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ "The real clever cogs in Labour's machine". Financial Times. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "The making of Ed Miliband". Guardian. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ UK faces return to inequality of Thatcher years, says report The Guardian
- ^ "Britain's Unbridgeable Divide". The Atlantic. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Policy errors set Chancellor on course to announce 'Osborne-level' spending cuts to balance the books". Resolution Foundation. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ "Torsten Bell appointed Honorary Professor at the UCL Policy Lab". UCL. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Statesman, New (2023-05-17). "The New Statesman's left power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-12-13.