Bell – a former adviser to Alistair Darling when he was chancellor and Ed Miliband when he was opposition leader – was made pension minister in January.
The move has split Labour MPs, with some hailing his “strong economic brain” but others reporting that it has “gone down like a led balloon” in some quarters of the party.
Joining the Civil Service with his brother after Oxford, he was talent-spotted by Darling, who appointed him as a special adviser during the 2008 financial crisis.
His journey back to the frontline of British politics was secured last year when he was controversially parachuted into the seat of Swansea West for the election despite lacking links to the area.
One MP said the most striking thing about Bell was his “boundless energy”.
The MP said the Chancellor had brought him into her inner circle to give herself greater policy heft.
“I think the Chancellor has seen that experience and obviously knows him well, and is going to benefit from that experience, understanding the process, the trade-offs, thinking about all the different decisions and trying to make sure that we get a really strong Budget that’s focused on the things that we need to do for the country.”
“It’s about, what are the things the Chancellor knows she wants to do – can he help get the system into a place alongside the other advisers that it can do the things that she wants to do?”
One MP in the group said: “Torsten’s a very smart guy. There’s not many who dispute that. He’s been thinking about a lot of this stuff for years.
A backbencher said: “He has a strong economic brain. I’m not aware of anyone with a stronger sense of what is required economically.”
Conerns over tax rises
Right-wing media outlets have taken great relish in producing long lists of all of the tax increases which Bell has previously advocated.
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One MP claimed there was significant concern about his appointment. “The Torsten stuff’s gone down like a led balloon,” they said. “He’s someone very academically smart [but] not the best communicator in terms of people.
The MP added: “To focus on how the Budget will land with the Resolution Foundation versus how it will land with the general public. Interesting choice.”
On the first charge, one Labour MP said: “He is quite good fun… he’s quite Tiggerish.”
“There is cause for hope that we can see a step-change towards being more ambitious, radical and not taking no for an answer on some of the stuff that we need to do.”
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