Pensions minister Guy Opperman leaves post after record five years

Hexham MP confirms he was ‘relieved of duties’ earlier this month

Hope William-Smith
clock • 1 min read

The UK’s longest serving pensions minister, MP Guy Opperman, has left the post after a record 1,913 days in office.

Opperman today (20 September) said he was "relieved of his duties" on 8 September but had refrained from making the news public until after the period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. His record-long period as pensions minister at the Department for Work and Pensions saw the lifting of auto-enrolment (AE) workplace pensions to 8% savings per annum and a 44 percentage point increase in the number of women and young people in workplace arrangements. "We passed the ground-breaking Pensions Schemes Act 2021 through parliament," Opperman added. "The act has secured ou...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Pensions

Pensions gender gap: A low-profile injustice that deserves more attention

Pensions gender gap: A low-profile injustice that deserves more attention

'Pensions are one of the few financial products where time is the single biggest driver of outcome'

Jessica Cook
clock 24 August 2026 • 4 min read
Advisers place focus on retirement support as providers lack 'meaningful' engagement

Advisers place focus on retirement support as providers lack 'meaningful' engagement

People’s Pension poll shows 54% of IFAs say providers struggle to create ‘meaningful’ engagement

Martin Richmond
clock 19 August 2026 • 3 min read
Pensioner poverty has risen for more than a decade, warns LCP

Pensioner poverty has risen for more than a decade, warns LCP

Single and divorced pensioners most affected and should be focus for future policy

Alex Levy
clock 18 August 2026 • 4 min read