Rachel Reeves: From child chess champion to ‘iron’ Chancellor
Rachel Reeves: From child chess champion to ‘iron’ Chancellor
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Rachel Reeves admitted that a tweet that described her as “boring, snoring” during a TV appearance left her feeling slightly humiliated. But the then-shadow treasury secretary, who had been Leeds West MP for three years when BBC Newsnight editor Ian Katz posted the view in 2013, was clear about what her priorities were when asked about it.
“Glamorous and exciting are probably not two things you’d want from someone in charge of public finances – you want someone who’s steady, who’s serious, who’s responsible,” she told The Guardian. A decade later, Labour has swept back to power and she has billed herself as a stable force whose “tough decisions” as Chancellor will put the UK’s economy back on track.
Her promise to serve as the country’s “iron” Chancellor and an emphasis on supply-side reform invited comparisons between herself and Margaret Thatcher – to the dismay of some on the left. But allies of the former child chess champion have said she has the type of analytical mind required for the challenges that awaited her at the Treasury.
Ms Reeves was born in Lewisham and grew up in south London. She studied PPE at Oxford and has a Master’s degree in economics from the LSE. The MP for Leeds West and Pudsey was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and became the shadow chancellor in Sir Keir’s opposition Cabinet in 2021.
