Chancellor Rachel Reeves has two children with her husband Nicholas Joicey, who is a senior civil servant, and has previously spoken about the challenges of being a working mum
She’s a self-confessed “girlie swot” who is now one of the most powerful women in the country, and all eyes are upon her ahead of the Autumn Budget. This Wednesday, Rachel Reeves will be brandishing the iconic red Budget box on the steps of Number 11 Downing Street – in a move that has the nation on tenterhooks.
She’s already made history as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer since the role was established in 1221, but has come under fire in recent months after a row over her family home in south east London, after it emerged it did not have a licence required to rent it out.
In the upcoming budget, Mrs Reeves is believed to be set to scrap the two-child benefit cap, slash energy bills, slash pension benefits and introduce taxes for the biggest properties. Last week, Ms Reeves said she was “sick of people mansplaining how to be Chancellor to me”, adding that being labelled “Rachel from accounts” by critics also spurred her on.
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She said: “I recognise that I’ve got a target on me. You can see that in the media; they’re going for me all the time. It’s exhausting. But I’m not going to let them bring me down by undermining my character or my confidence. I’ve seen off a lot of those boys before and I’ll continue to do so.” Speaking days before her Budget on Wednesday, the Chancellor said she wants to show the public “that they can trust me with their money, to run the economy. I’m not a public personality. I’m not in showbusiness,” she said. “I’m the Chancellor. If you want people to enter politics, you have to remember they’re human beings. I’m a mum with two kids. I’m a wife and a daughter. I wasn’t born into this and I’m just trying to do my best.”
Chess champion
Born on 13 February 1979, Ms Reeves is now 46 years old. She grew up in Lewisham, south-east London, raised by primary school teachers Graham and Sally. She attended Cator Park School for Girls, a state school in Bromley, where she studied A-levels in maths, further maths, economics and politics – providing the perfect springboard for her future political career.
From a young age, Rachel demonstrated a fierce intelligence. The self-proclaimed “swot” would spend her lunchtimes at school alone, diligently working through SATs exams to challenge herself, revealing a competitive nature even then. She showed an early aptitude for maths and secured a place at Oxford’s New College to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics, becoming only the third student from her school to ever attend Oxford.
Rachel continued her academic journey, earning a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics. She joined the Bank of England’s graduate scheme, sharing the cohort with disgraced former Health Secretary Matt Hancock. She also held the title of British girls under-14 chess champion, having been introduced to the game by her father at the tender age of seven.
Rachel joined the Labour party at 16 while she was in sixth form, a year before Tony Blair’s sweeping victory in 1997. After two unsuccessful attempts to secure office, she finally became the MP for the former seat of Leeds West in 2010 – the seat later underwent a name change to Leeds West and Pudsey.
Rarely-seen husband
Rachel is wedded to Nicholas Joicey, a high-ranking civil servant who currently holds the position of Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer at DEFRA – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. His role brings in £110,000 annually, alongside Rachel’s near £150,000 wage.
The couple are clearly well matched, with Ms Reeves revealing that the pair once spent the evening of Valentine’s Day watching a Newsnight special about the lessons from the Swedish banking crisis. He previously held the title of Director General of the Cabinet Office’s Economic and Domestic Secretariat, and Director General for Finance at the Department for Work and Pensions. He also formerly worked as Director General for Strategy, International and Finance at DEFRA, and prior to that, he penned speeches for Gordon Brown during Brown’s tenure as Chancellor.
Before his political career took off, Nicholas was a journalist at The Observer. In the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath for his services to the environment. Rachel and Nicholas’ love story began in Washington, where she was working at the British embassy, analysing the US economy for the Bank of England. The couple have two children, Anna Elizabeth, born in 2013, and Harold, born in 2015.
Rachel shared her experience of being the first woman in the Shadow Cabinet to juggle motherhood and a demanding job with MMB Magazine, saying: “I had a busy workload and a lot of pressure. Five months after my first baby was born, I came back to work, and although balancing the two was a challenge, I loved my job and had a supportive husband and family.”
She added: “I travelled regularly between Leeds and London, and both of my children are good travellers who love Leeds and London.” During her maternity leave with Anna, Rachel faced criticism from activist group 38 Degrees, who emailed her constituents highlighting her abstention on a crucial vote. However, under parliamentary rules at the time, Rachel had been paired with a Conservative MP who also refrained from voting, effectively cancelling out her absence. After one of her constituents pointed out that she was on maternity leave, the group apologised.
Famous sister
In addition to having a politically active husband, Rachel’s sister is also a well-known figure in parliament. Ellie Reeves, the MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich since 2017, followed her sister into politics. Ellie has also served as Chair of the Labour Party and Minister without Portfolio since Labour took power in July 2024.
Just like her elder sister, Ellie demonstrated a sharp intellect from an early age. She received her education at the same institutions as Rachel and also attended Oxford, earning a law degree from St Catherine’s College. Ellie pursued a career as a barrister and is married to Labour peer John Cryer, now Baron Cryer, which allows her to adopt the title Lady Cryer if she so chooses. The couple are parents to two boys.
Tears in PMQs
Rachel admitted she was “clearly” emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions after she broke down in tears in the House of Commons.
She explained that she had a “personal issue” unrelated to her professional duties, adding: “I’m not going to go into the details of that. My job as Chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the Prime Minister, supporting the Government and that’s what I tried to do.
“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”
Apology
Earlier this year, Ms Reeves was forced to apologise to Keir Starmer and his ethics adviser for the error on her family home in Dulwich, south London. She put the south London home – owned with her husband – in rental after moving into No11 Downing Street following Labour’s election victory last summer.
In October she was made aware the property did not have a “selective licence” required by the local authority Southwark council. It led to the Tories calling for her to be sacked for flouting housing regulations.
But she defended herself successfully after publishing emails between her husband and the agency showing that Harvey & Wheeler had agreed to apply for the licence, while telling the Prime Minister she still accepted “full responsibility” for the matter.