Starmer hopes to be saved by two bells - high flying twins Torsten and Olaf
The prime minister’s hiring of twins Olaf Henricson-Bell and Torsten Bell is a clear attempt to bring in some much needed intellectual heft to Labour’s economic policy making, says Simon Walters
With the economy on the ropes and the clock running down to find an answer you cannot blame Keir Starmer for hoping his battered administration might be saved by the bell.
It appears he is counting on being saved not by one bell but two Bells.
In the space of 24 hours twin brothers Torsten and Olaf Bell, aged 42, have become two of the most influential members of Starmer’s revamped team.
Torsten Bell, who entered the Commons in July, has been made pensions minister in the wake of Tulip Siddiq’s resignation.
It comes just 24 hours after his non identical twin, career civil servant Olaf was made head of the Downing Street policy unit.
Despite their relative young age both are economic heavyweights with vast experience of tackling complex financial issues.
Which is what Starmer is crying out for when Reeves’ political stock has plummeted just six months after Labour won power.
Make no mistake: both appointments are a clear attempt by Starmer to bring in some much needed intellectual heft to Labour’s economic policy making.
Or to put it another way: they have been drafted in to help sort out the mess Reeves appears to have got Labour into.
As pensions minister Torsten Bell will have a major input into key economic decisions. He was an adviser to Gordon Brown and later ran the respected Resolution Foundation think-tank.
Despite his high reputation he does not come without some political baggage. As advisor to Labour Leader Ed Miliband in the 2015 election Torsten was responsible for Miliband’s much mocked “Ed Stone.”
It was a nine ft tall monument to be erected in the Downing St garden - if Miliband won power - reminding him of the six election pledges he had made to voters.
When he lost, the “Ed Stone” reportedly ended up being buried on an industrial estate in south London.
It is not only differing physical characteristics that distinguish the twins: they have different surnames.
Confusingly, while Oxford graduate politician Torsten goes by the name of Bell, Whitehall mandarin and Cambridge graduate Olaf’s surname is Henricson-Bell.
Their Swedish mother Clem Henricson is a policy analyst and activist; English father Bill Bell is an academic and children's rights advocate.
Like his brother, Olaf Henricson-Bell is no stranger to trying make the numbers add up at the Treasury.
As a civil servant he has worked closely with three Tory Chancellors, Philip Hammond, Sir Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak.
Starmer will hope the Bells can ring the necessary changes to get Labour back on track.
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