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Sir Steven John Webb (born 18 July 1965) is a British pensions commentator who was previously Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Northavon Northavon was a district in the English county of Avon from 1974 to 1996. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 as part of a reform of local authorities throughout England and Wales. Under the reorganisation, ...
from
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
to
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and for Thornbury and Yate from
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
to
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
. He was the Minister of State for Pensions in the
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
of
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
.


Background

Webb was born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
to Brian and Patricia Webb, and attended the local
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...
, Dartmouth High School, before going on to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at
Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...
. He then worked at the
Institute for Fiscal Studies The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom, which specialises in UK taxation and public policy. It produces both academic and policy-related findings. The institute's aim is to "ad ...
in London, where he specialised in researching into poverty, taxes and benefits. In 1995, he became a Professor of
Social Policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...
at the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
.


Political career

At the 1997 general election, Webb was elected as MP for
Northavon Northavon was a district in the English county of Avon from 1974 to 1996. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 as part of a reform of local authorities throughout England and Wales. Under the reorganisation, ...
, just north of
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
, 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 Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...
to lead spokesman 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 spokesman 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 James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...
's reshuffle in October 2008, he shadowed
Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...
in the newly formed Department for Energy and Climate Change. On 8 January 2009
Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...
announced his "General Election Team" and an "economic recovery group" with Webb appointed as Work and Pensions spokesman. Webb was also a member of the cross-party Christians in Parliament, and vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. He was one of the first MPs to have a blog and a website, and in 2004, his website, which made use of
SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
technology, was commended in the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' 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 Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
, 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''. 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 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
and
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
. On 17 October 2007, the websit
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 Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...
for leader, who was ultimately the successful candidate. 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, 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. 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, and that by 2014, £11M per year would be added to the total UK investment in pensions, 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 Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–19 ...
. In the May 2015 general election, he lost his seat to the Conservative Luke Hall.


Subsequent career

Webb was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...
in the
2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
. 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. In 2020, Webb left Royal London to take up a partner role at the consultancy Lane Clark and Peacock. A
freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigen ...
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.


Personal life

On 10 July 1993, Webb married Helen, a curate at his local church in
Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...
, south London. A year later, the couple moved to Bristol; they have two children.


References


External links


The Webb Log
Steve Webb's blog *
Profile: Steve Webb
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...
'', 17 October 2007 ;News items
Pensions and women in October 2002

Pensions in November 2002

Arguing with Liberal's view on pornography in March 2004

Civil servants viewing pornography in August 2004

NHS dentists in September 2005

Open prisons in February 2006

Fries to go in April 2006

Cameron ministerial appointment in May 2010
;Video clips
Points West clip in 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Steve 1965 births Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford English Anglicans Academics of the University of Bath UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Politics of South Gloucestershire District Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods