Rachel Reeves, a former children’s chess champion and Bank of England economist, is expected to become Britain’s first female Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Following Labour’s landslide victory, Reeves is expected to take over the ministry after being the party’s shadow finance minister in opposition.
Her party had put the economy at the heart of its election manifesto, targeting growth. Reeves, 45, recently told business leaders: “This changed Labour Party is now the natural party of British business.” “Change will only be achieved on the basis of iron discipline” on public finances, she added, comments that have prompted comparisons with “iron lady” Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister.
Unlike the conservative Thatcher, who privatised key sectors after becoming prime minister in 1979, Reeves wants re-nationalisation, particularly for energy, as she is inspired by the policies implemented by US President Joe Biden.
Labour has pledged to create Great British Energy, a public company to lead the funding, alongside the private sector, for the “green” transition from fossil fuels. James Wood, professor of political economy at Cambridge University, said Labour and Reeves were pursuing a “responsible” approach to public money.
Born in London, Reeves tapped into British anger at Shunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, whose unfunded 2022 mini-budget sent the pound plummeting and mortgage rates soaring, pushing up the cost of living. “They want to distance themselves from fiscal irresponsibility without making big promises on promises they can’t keep,” Wood added.
Reeves was a chess champion at the age of 14 before studying philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University, followed by a postgraduate degree at the London School of Economics. After graduating, she worked as an economist for a decade, initially at the Bank of England, before moving into the private sector.
She was working at the British bank HBOS when the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, resulting in the bank receiving a huge bailout package from Gordon Brown’s Labour government. In 2010, when the Conservatives came to power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Reeves was elected Labour MP for Leeds West in the north of England. Eleven years later, Starmer appointed her as Labour’s shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
