Steve Webb

Last updated

Helen, Lady Webb
​
(m. 1993)​
The Right Honourable
Sir Steve Webb
Steve Webb 2008.jpg
Minister of State for Pensions
In office
12 May 2010 –8 May 2015
Children2
Alma mater Hertford College, Oxford
ProfessionAcademic

Sir Steven John Webb PC (born 18 July 1965) is a British pensions commentator who was previously Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Northavon from 1997 to 2010 and for Thornbury and Yate from 2010 to 2015. He was the Minister of State for Pensions in the coalition government of David Cameron.

Contents

Background

Webb was born in Birmingham to Brian and Patricia Webb, and attended the local comprehensive school, Dartmouth High School, before going on to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Hertford College, Oxford. He then worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, where he specialised in researching into poverty, taxes and benefits. In 1995, he became a Professor of Social Policy at the University of Bath.

Political career

At the 1997 general election, Webb was elected as MP for Northavon, just north of Bristol, overturning a Conservative majority of over 11,000. He increased a 2,137 majority to 9,877 in the 2001 election and again to 11,033 in the 2005 election.

In 2001, Webb was promoted by Charles Kennedy to lead spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on Work and Pensions, a portfolio he had worked in since 1999. He continued in this position until being appointed as Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson in 2005. At the end of 2006, he started a new role co-ordinating the party's manifesto for the next general election. In the first reshuffle after the leadership election, he was appointed Liberal Democrat Environment, Energy, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman. Following Gordon Brown's reshuffle in October 2008, he shadowed Ed Miliband in the newly formed Department for Energy and Climate Change. On 8 January 2009 Nick Clegg announced his "General Election Team" and an "economic recovery group" with Webb appointed as Work and Pensions spokesman. [1]

Webb was also a member of the cross-party Christians in Parliament, and vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. [2] He was one of the first MPs to have a blog and a website, and in 2004, his website, which made use of SMS technology, was commended in the New Statesman New Media Awards and, in February 2005, led him to win the inaugural Hansard Society E-Democracy Award. He also recognised the emerging potential of online social networks by joining MySpace and Facebook, two of the biggest social media websites at the time. He was one of the contributors to the Orange Book (2004) and is the author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS. [3]

Given his increasing profile and popularity within the party due to his role as the manifesto chair, he was seen as a probable candidate for the social liberal grouping's vote in the future leadership election. Simon Hughes had been the previous 'standard bearer' in the leadership elections in 1999 and 2006. On 17 October 2007, the website Bloggers4Steve announced that Webb had received enough nominations from MPs to run. Despite this, on 18 October, Webb announced he was not running, and would be backing Nick Clegg for leader, who was ultimately the successful candidate. [4]

At the 2010 general election, the constituency of Northavon was split into two new constituencies. Subsequently, Webb was elected for the new Thornbury and Yate constituency, which covers most of the ground originally covered by Northavon.

In a letter dated 12 April 2010, [5] Webb said on behalf of the Liberal Democrats: "We are very clear that all accrued rights should be honoured: a pension promise made should be a pension promise kept. Therefore we would not make any changes to pension rights that have already been built up. I have confirmed that I regard accrued index-linked rights as protected." However in July 2010, as the Coalition Minister for Works and Pensions, Webb announced plans to link private sector pension payments to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) instead of the Retail Prices Index (RPI), which would reduce the value of fully accrued index-linked pensions. [6] [7]

As Pensions Minister in the Coalition government, Webb led major changes to the pensions system. The pensions 'triple-lock' guarantees that the state pension rises each year by the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5%. One year this resulted in the highest ever cash increase in the state pension, and saw pensioners who were receiving the full state pension £380 a year better off.

In Autumn 2012, auto-enrolment was introduced for large businesses in the UK, being rolled out to smaller businesses over the next four years. Auto-enrolment automatically enrols employees into a contributory pension scheme, unless they opt out. Estimates suggest that 600,000 people were auto-enrolled by the end of 2013, [8] and that by 2014, £11M per year would be added to the total UK investment in pensions, [9]

Webb attracted media attention in March 2014, when he remarked in a television interview that due to the coalition government's pension reforms, he was relaxed if pensioners wanted to spend their savings on a Lamborghini. [10] [11]

In the May 2015 general election, he lost his seat to the Conservative Luke Hall.

Subsequent career

Webb was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours. [12]

In August 2015, it was announced Webb was becoming director of policy and external communications at the financial services mutual Royal London. Parliamentary rules prevented Webb from direct political lobbying for the first two years. [13] In 2020, Webb left Royal London to take up a partner role at the consultancy Lane Clark and Peacock. [14]

A freedom of information inquiry tabled by Webb in 2020 revealed that a large number of women were being paid state pensions below the expected rate. Some 200,000 women could now be in line for payouts averaging £13,500 to top-up the underpayment of their state pension. [15]

Personal life

On 10 July 1993, Webb married Helen, a curate at his local church in Clapham, south London. A year later, the couple moved to Bristol; they have two children.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Dorrell</span> British Liberal Democrat politician

Stephen James Dorrell is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Burstow</span> British former politician

Paul Kenneth Burstow is a British former politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam for 18 years, from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by Paul Scully.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Davey</span> Leader of the Liberal Democrats, MP for Kingston and Surbiton

Sir Edward Jonathan Davey is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, and from 1997 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Laws</span> British politician (born 1965)

David Anthony Laws is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, in his third parliament he served at the outset as a Cabinet Minister, in 2010, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury; as well as later concurrently as Minister for Schools and for the Cabinet Office from 2012 – an office where he worked cross-departmentally on implementing the coalition agreement in policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Lamb</span> British politician

Sir Norman Peter Lamb is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee from 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Heath (politician)</span> British Liberal Democrat politician

David William St John Heath is a British optometrist and Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Somerton and Frome and was the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food. In October 2013 after being removed from his ministerial post in a reshuffle, he announced his intention to step down at the next UK General Election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Stunell</span> British politician

Robert Andrew Stunell, Baron Stunell, is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom.

In British politics, a Lib–Lab pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Clegg</span> British media executive and former politician

Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg is a British media executive and former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. Clegg became vice‑president of global affairs and communications at Meta in 2018. In 2022, he became president for global affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Mulholland</span> British Liberal Democrat politician (born 1970)

Gregory Thomas Mulholland is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the MP for Leeds North West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Alexander</span> British banker and former Liberal Democrat politician

Sir Daniel Grian Alexander is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 until the general election in May 2015. In his first parliamentary term (2005–2010), Alexander was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Work and Pensions (2007–2008), the Chief of Staff to party leader Nick Clegg, and Chair of the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Group (2007–2010).

<i>The Orange Book</i> Book by Paul Marshall and others

The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism is a book written by a group of prominent British Liberal Democrat politicians and edited by David Laws and Paul Marshall in 2004. Three contributors later became leaders of the Liberal Democrats: Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Ed Davey. Other contributors include Chris Huhne, Susan Kramer, Mark Oaten and Steve Webb. The book's central philosophy, and some of its ideas, are supported by Liberal Reform, an internal group of the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley</span>

John Ambrose Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley, PC is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Democrats (UK)</span> British political party

The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast. They have 14 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 84 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has over 2,500 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007, and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Lloyd</span> British politician

Stephen Anthony Christopher Lloyd is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was twice Member of Parliament (MP) for the seat of Eastbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement</span> 2010 political agreement in the United Kingdom

The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement was a policy document drawn up following the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom. It formed the terms of reference governing the Cameron–Clegg coalition, the coalition government comprising MPs from the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonny Oates, Baron Oates</span> British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords

Jonathan Oates, Baron Oates is a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords. A past Chief of Staff to the former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, he was previously the Director of Policy and Communications at the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom government formation</span> Events surrounding the formation of the United Kingdoms government in 2010

The events surrounding the formation of the United Kingdom's government in 2010 took place between 7 May and 12 May 2010, following the 2010 general election, which failed to produce an overall majority for either of the country's two main political parties. The election, held on 6 May, resulted in the first hung parliament in the UK in 36 years, sparking a series of negotiations which would form the first coalition government since the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Hall (politician)</span> British politician

Luke Anthony Hall is a British politician and former retail manager who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thornbury and Yate since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government from 2020 to 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Clegg reveals Liberal Democrat General Election Team Liberal Democrat official website. Retrieved on 14 January 2009.
  2. ↑ Liberal Democrat Christian Forum Official Website
  3. ↑ Tempest, Michelle (2006). The Future of the NHS. ISBN   1-85811-369-5 . Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Clegg picking up Lib Dem backers, BBC News Online , 18 October 2007
  5. ↑ "Index-Linking of Public Sector Pensions" . Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "CPI versus RPI: impact on pensions? Punter Southall Briefing Note" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Pension changes could cost 11m Britons thousands of pounds". The Guardian. 20 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Peachey, Kevin (8 August 2013). "Q&A: Pension automatic enrolment". BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Steve Webb, pensions Minister". Business Life Magazine. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Peter Dominiczak, Assistant Political Editor (20 March 2014). "Budget 2014: 'Pensioners should be free to buy Lamborghini,' says minister". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 14 May 2015.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ Nicholas Watt & Larry Elliott (20 March 2014). "Pension pots 'can be used to buy Lamborghinis', says minister". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N2.
  13. ↑ Marion Dakers (12 August 2015). "Former pensions minister Webb joins Royal London". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Steve Webb leaves Royal London - FTAdviser.com".
  15. ↑ "Women retirees win £2.7bn for underpaid pensions". BBC News. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
News items
Video clips
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Northavon
1997–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Thornbury and Yate
2010–2015 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of State for Pensions
2010–2015		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.