Fiscal hawk or playing a bad hand: what kind of chancellor is Rachel Reeves?

Reeves-watchers are still divided over whether her tough approach is pragmatic or the result of deeply seated beliefsAs Rachel Reeves hosted a charity breakfast in the grand state room at No 11 Downing Street last week, she stood beneath an 18th-century portrait of a politically powerful woman from another era: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.Part of Reeves’s feminist rehang, the painting of Queen Anne’s confident right-hand woman, resplendent in velvet, underlined how visibly different the Treasury now looks under the leadership of the first female chancellor. Continue reading...

Mar 25, 2025 - 09:54
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Fiscal hawk or playing a bad hand: what kind of chancellor is Rachel Reeves?

Reeves-watchers are still divided over whether her tough approach is pragmatic or the result of deeply seated beliefs

As Rachel Reeves hosted a charity breakfast in the grand state room at No 11 Downing Street last week, she stood beneath an 18th-century portrait of a politically powerful woman from another era: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

Part of Reeves’s feminist rehang, the painting of Queen Anne’s confident right-hand woman, resplendent in velvet, underlined how visibly different the Treasury now looks under the leadership of the first female chancellor. Continue reading...