Ros Altmann has a hard act to follow

The individual in question is 49-year-old Lib Dem Steve Webb who, despite a ‘Win with Webb’ campaign, lost his Thornbury and Yate seat to a young and thrusting Conservative who goes by the name of Luke Hall.

Not just lost it, but lost it spectacularly, as 28-year-old Hall, an ex-Lidl store manager and proud holder of an amateur boxing licence, overturned a 2010 7,000 majority in favour of Mr Webb.

Despite his crushing defeat, there is no doubt that Mr Webb – an ‘armchair’ supporter of West Bromwich Albion Football Club – was a fine MP who, unlike many of his compatriots in the House of Commons, lived in his constituency and loved doing so.

And as befits the man, he was magnanimous in defeat, proclaiming: “Representing the people of Thornbury and Yate has been a huge privilege. I am proud of and grateful to local people for giving me that chance.”

Yet it is in his role as pensions minister in the coalition government that he has won my lifetime respect. Quietly and assuredly he oversaw great pension change in this country and we should all be grateful (young and old) for his steady hand at the tiller.

Quietly and assuredly Steve Webb oversaw great pension change in this country and we should all be grateful

Among his finer achievements was the introduction of the ‘triple lock’ guarantee, ensuring the state pension will rise every year by the higher of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent. He has also paved the way for the introduction of a simpler state pension.

There is more. He was at the pensions helm to see the smooth-ish introduction of auto-enrolment in 2012, a process that has so far pushed more than five million people into a workplace pension.

And of course, as befits his liberal beliefs, he masterminded the new pension freedoms that have been in force since the beginning of the tax year, enabling pensioners to blow their pension – if they so desire – on the purchase of a Lamborghini.

Not all Mr Webb’s suggestions have turned to pension gold – cranky defined ambition pensions for example – but we should forgive him the odd blip or two and wish him well in his new career. I am sure he will turn up sooner rather than later as head of a pensions or economics think-tank.

Mr Webb’s election defeat, coupled with the Conservative Party’s barnstorming victory, means his ministerial shoes have been slipped into by Ros Altmann who, pre-election, was being lined up by David Cameron to become the minister for financial consumer protection if the Tories won. This followed her stint as the coalition’s business champion for older workers.

Baroness Altmann, a formidable pensions force, is a worthy successor to Mr Webb. I have known her since the early 2000s when she was instrumental in helping get the Labour government of the day to provide compensation to workers whose pensions were lost as a result of their employer going bust, leaving behind an inadequately funded pension scheme.

The setting up of the Financial Assistance Scheme (inadequate though it has been) was swiftly followed by the creation of the Pension Protection Fund, which now provides a pension backstop for anyone whose works pension is wound up. Baroness Altmann must take a big pat on the back for the greater protection now offered by the PPF.

Since then, she has vented her spleen on numerous pension issues and has usually been proved right. Much of her strongest vehemence was directed towards the poor value offered by annuities and the dilatory attitude of insurers towards ensuring better outcomes for people turning pension funds into lifetime income. Again, she was a catalyst for change, resulting in the new pension freedoms for those aged 55 and over.

In light of the consumer champion badge she has worn for more than a decade, much is going to be expected of Baroness Altmann in her newfound role within the heart of government. No doubt, those pensioners receiving payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme will want a better deal – and they deserve one – as will some women who have lost out from the future reform of the state pension through no other fact than as to when they were born.

Experts have also been quick to draw up their pension wish lists for Baroness Altmann to grapple with. Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdown, never short of a pension opinion or three, wants the auto-enrolment net to be widened to include the self-employed – a sound idea – and minimum contribution rates to rise – again, a good proposal but a contentious one likely to annoy many an employer.

Meanwhile, David Smith of Tilney Bestinvest wants a flat rate of tax relief on contributions to be introduced rather than the policy outlined in the Conservative Party manifesto of restricting further the relief available to high earners. This gets my vote.

My wishes? Certainly, the lifetime allowance should be abolished rather than reduced as it will be from April next year under plans announced in this year’s Budget by George Osborne. Baroness Altmann has already described the reduction as ‘bad’ policy and it makes no sense given there is already a limit on the size of pensions that people can amass through the £40,000 annual allowance cap. People should not be penalised for putting money away and successfully building a worthwhile fund that provides them with financial independence in later life.

I would also like the pensions market simplified because it is far too complicated as it stands. Complexity might be good for tax and pension advisers, but it acts as a savings deterrent.

Over to you Ros Altmann. Bloody good luck.

Jeff Prestridge is personal finance editor of the Mail on Sunday