UK Prime Minister David Cameron has named high-profile campaigner Ros Altmann as the country’s new pensions minister.
The appointment follows last week’s election victory for Cameron’s Conservative party, which also saw long-serving pensions minister Steve Webb lose his seat.
“Having an unelected new peer as the pension minister is bound to attract criticism from some quarters.” —Malcolm McLean, Barnett WaddinghamAltmann was lined up to become a member of the House of Lords, the UK’s upper house, earlier this year, with Cameron stating last month she would become minister for consumer protection.
As Cameron named his cabinet yesterday, however, he tapped Altmann for the pensions minister role. She was previously an adviser to Tony Blair’s Labour government on pensions and retirement issues. In her new role, she will oversee the implementation of the government’s new “pension freedoms”, which remove the obligation for retirees to purchase an annuity.
Altmann has publicly stated support for the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties in the past, although in the run-up to last week’s election she wrote on her website that “the current economic and political realities lead me to conclude that the future of the country I love is at risk if the Conservatives do not form the next government.”
“I am not ‘tribal’ in my political allegiances,” she
wrote. “I don’t blindly follow a particular party or ideology. But
putting Labour back in charge at this time could be disastrous for the United
Kingdom.”
Posting on Twitter immediately following Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement, Altmann said she was “really looking forward to [helping] more people”.
“A party for working people must also be a party for private sector businesses [that] create the jobs the working families need,” Altmann added. “Business and workers are not opponents. Each needs the other to succeed. Balancing interests carefully is key to successful policy. Helping business also means making sure customers are treated fairly, as that should help business thrive in [the] long term.”
“Having an unelected new peer as the pension minister is bound to attract criticism from some quarters and Ros will have to accept that her position within government will not now allow her the luxury of claiming to be an independent consumer champion and criticising conservative policies from outside,” said Malcolm McLean, senior consultant at Barnett Waddingham.
Earlier in her career Altmann held investment positions at Chase Manhattan, Rothschild Asset Management, and NatWest Investment Management, among other organizations.
Altmann has a degree in economics from University College London, a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics, and was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University.
Meanwhile, Iain Duncan Smith was re-appointed as the UK’s work and pensions minister.
Related Content: UK Pension Minister Ousted in Dramatic Election Result