Because the celebration’s finance spokesperson in opposition, Rachel Reeves has assumed the place of chancellor of the exchequer following the appointment of Sir Keir Starmer – the primary Labour prime minister in 14 years.
The Labour celebration crossed the bulk threshold and received the eagerly awaited common election in the UK in 2024, shortly after Rishi Sunak introduced his resignation as prime minister.
After almost all the outcomes have been in, Keir Starmer’s celebration had taken 412 of the 650 seats within the Home of Commons, whereas the Conservatives had 121 seats.
Reeves herself received the Leeds West and Pudsey constituency.
However who precisely is the lady who has develop into Britain’s first feminine chancellor?
Rachel Reeves has served because the MP for Leeds West since 2010 and because the shadow chancellor since Could 2021.
Beneath is an in depth overview of her life and profession:
- Delivery: Ms Reeves was born on February 13, 1979, in Lewisham, London.
- Household background: She comes from a household emphasising public service; her father was a instructor and her mom labored as a social employee.
- Training: Ms Reeves attended Cator Park Faculty for Ladies in Bromley (which closed in 2011). She informed the Each day Telegraph in 2022 how she would work on college tasks in the course of the holidays as a result of she preferred to “do properly at issues” and get “prime marks”. She later studied at New School, Oxford, incomes a philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) diploma. Subsequently, she accomplished a grasp’s diploma in economics from the London Faculty of Economics.
Skilled profession earlier than politics
- Banking and economics: Earlier than coming into politics, Reeves labored as an economist. She started her profession on the Financial institution of England and later labored as an economist on the British Embassy in Washington DC. She additionally labored for Halifax Financial institution of Scotland (HBOS) and within the non-public sector for the administration consulting agency Financial institution of America Merrill Lynch.
- Entry into politics: Reeves first contested for the Labour celebration within the 2005 common election within the constituency of Bromley and Chislehurst however was not elected.
- MP for Leeds West: Within the 2010 common election, she was elected because the MP for Leeds West, succeeding John Battle.
- Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury: In 2011, she was appointed to this function, shadowing the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
- Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: In 2013, she was promoted to this place, the place she targeted on welfare points and was recognized for her stance on reforming the welfare system.
- Chair of the Enterprise, Power and Industrial Technique Committee: From 2017 to 2020, she chaired this influential committee, overseeing enterprise and industrial coverage.
- Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Appointed in April 2020, she considerably scrutinised the Authorities’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer: In Could 2021, Starmer appointed her to this senior function, the place she grew to become liable for the celebration’s financial insurance policies and strategy to public funds.
Political stance and achievements
- Financial coverage: Reeves is thought for her pragmatic strategy to financial coverage, advocating fiscal accountability whereas selling funding in public companies and infrastructure.
- Labour Get together reforms: She has been instrumental in modernising the Labour Get together’s financial stance, emphasising the necessity for a robust and accountable fiscal coverage to realize public belief.
- Environmental and social points: Reeves has been vocal concerning the significance of addressing local weather change and has supported varied social justice initiatives.
- Household: Reeves is married to Nicholas Joicey, a civil servant who has labored in senior positions on the Treasury and the Division for Work and Pensions. The couple have two youngsters. Reeves’s sister, Ellie Reeves, is the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge.
- Publications and media: On prime of her political profession, Reeves is an writer and has written books on financial and social historical past, together with a biography of Alice Bacon, the primary feminine MP for Leeds.
- Pursuits: She has a eager curiosity in historical past and is thought to be a fan of biking and working. Sky Information reported that Reeves’s aggressive streak defines her love of chess, which her father taught her when she was seven, giving her the “chess bug”. She later grew to become the British ladies’ under-14 champion.
What are Labour’s major manifesto factors?
- Concentrate on decreasing NHS therapy backlogs. The celebration has additionally pledged to ship “crack groups” who’re already working out-of-hours programmes into hospitals to assist arrange night and weekend clinics in the remainder of the well being service.
- Revive plans to ban younger folks from ever having the ability to smoke legally.
- Put 13,000 extra police and police neighborhood assist officers (PCSOs) again into communities, costing as much as £400 million.
- No will increase to revenue tax, nationwide insurance coverage or VAT.
- Set up a brand new publicly owned firm, Nice British Power, to put money into homegrown vitality sources and supply inexpensive costs to shoppers.
- Reform employment assist and welfare advantages to extend the employment fee from 75 per cent to 80 per cent.
- A lower in internet migration however no particular targets set. The celebration additionally believes reforming the apprenticeship levy to “sort out the abilities hole” will assist lower migration numbers.
- The overseas support price range wouldn’t be used to pay for asylum seekers’ resort prices, though the celebration has cautioned this may not be fast.
- Give coroners extra powers to entry data held by tech corporations after a baby’s demise. The celebration says this may permit them to make sure information is retained and never deleted by tech corporations.
- To extend defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP. The celebration has declined to stipulate its timeline, solely noting it will accomplish that when financial situations permit. There would even be a brand new strategic defence assessment throughout the first yr of a Labour authorities.
- A “triple lock” for the UK’s nuclear deterrent. This entails a dedication to delivering 4 new ballistic submarines, sustaining the continual at-sea deterrent, and offering all the required upgrades for the boats to proceed their patrols.
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