Guy Opperman has been appointed as a minister of state at the Department for Work and Pensions, a little over a month after being let go as pensions minister.
In a tweet last night (October 27), Opperman said he was “delighted” to have been appointed by prime minister Rishi Sunak, and is looking forward to working with Mel Stride, the new secretary of state for work and pensions.
Opperman was the longest serving pensions minister, holding the role for five years until he was relieved of his duties by former prime minister Liz Truss in September.
Delighted to be appointed by HM The King as Minister of State at DWP in the PM’s new Government @RishiSunak
— Guy Opperman (@GuyOpperman) October 27, 2022
Lots of work to do and I look forward to working with the new Secretary of State @MelJStride
He had previously stepped down from the government in July amid a wave of resignations in protest at the conduct of then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
Opperman then agreed to return as pensions minister a day later, until the new leader was elected.
Liz Truss, who won the contest, appointed Alex Burghart into the role, after some confusion over what position in government he held.
Truss resigned six weeks later, paving the way for a new cabinet, and according to Burghart's Twitter account he has now been moved to the cabinet office, where he is serving as a parliamentary secretary.
Opperman’s appointment comes at an important time for the DWP and pensions sector, which is facing reforms to regulations for the new DB funding code, auto-enrolment expansion, the single code of practice, and the Pensions Regulator’s notifiable events regime.
There has also been confusion over the pensions triple lock, which was suspended earlier this year to avoid a disproportionate rise in the state pension following the pandemic, breaking a key manifesto pledge by the Conservatives.
The lock, if re-instated, will most likely rise by 10.1 per cent, the inflation figure for September.
sally.hickey@ft.com
