Rachel Reeves is the most powerful Chancellor of the Exchequer of modern times. Her nearest equivalent would be Gordon Brown in 1997: another huge Labour majority, and a position of authority which made him unsackable for the next decade before inheriting the mantle unchallenged. Perhaps Brown’s trajectory is the model for Reeves, but if so, she already has the edge on him: Tony Blair was a brilliant public communicator and disagreed with Brown on some key economic issues, whereas Keir Starmer is not a fluent speaker and claims no expertise on the economy, on which he defers to her.
So, how does she want to use that unparalleled power? Her mantra of “stability will be the crucial change” was an apt and politically astute comment on the post-Cameron years of Tory meltdown, but already the international financial landscape has transformed. Sterling’s strength reflects a new sense that in contrast to North America and continental Europe, Britain now has a centrist government that is solidly in power for the foreseeable future. We are already an oasis of stability: inertia on matters where change is urgently needed is unnecessary and, I will argue, self-defeating.
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