Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Rachel Reeves, aged 45, as finance minister on Friday, marking the first time a woman has held this role in the country’s history, following Labour’s decisive victory in the UK general election.
Reeves takes on the role of chancellor of the exchequer after Labour, a centre-left party, secured a landslide win on Thursday, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.
“It is the honor of my life to have been appointed chancellor of the exchequer,” Reeves announced on the social media platform X following her appointment by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limits on your ambitions.”
Labour’s election manifesto centered on economic growth and wealth creation as primary objectives of governance, departing somewhat from its traditionally leftist policies.
“Economic growth was Labour Party’s mission,” Reeves emphasised on Friday. “It is now a national mission. Let’s get to work,” said the mother of two children, who is also married.
Rachel Reeves recently assured corporate leaders that Labour had become “the natural party of British business” and pledged “iron discipline” in managing public finances.
Her statements drew comparisons to ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, although Reeves advocates a different economic path, including forms of re-nationalisation, inspired by policies implemented by US President Joe Biden.
Rachel Reeves, whose parents were educators, demonstrated early tactical skill by becoming British girls’ chess champion at age 14 before pursuing philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford, followed by a Master’s degree at the London School of Economics.
After her academic career, she worked as an economist for a decade, initially at the Bank of England before transitioning to the private sector. Her tenure coincided with the global financial crisis in 2008, during which her employer, British retail bank HBOS, received a substantial bailout from Gordon Brown’s Labour government, among others.
In 2010, upon the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition coming to power, Reeves was elected Labour MP for Leeds West in northern England.
Eleven years later, Keir Starmer appointed her as Labour’s finance spokesperson. Her sister, Ellie Reeves, also serves as a Labour MP.
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