Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted feeling ‘under so much pressure’ minutes before she cried as Keir Starmer spoke on the Labour frontbench
Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a confession about “pressure” before she broke down in tears in the Commons during a tense Prime Minister’s Questions – sparking financial jitters.
Cameras captured the Chancellor visibly upset on the Labour frontbench just minutes after admitting she was “under so much pressure”. She was comforted by her sister, the Labour minister Ellie Reeves.
Money markets responded sharply following Reeves’ tearful appearance. UK ten-year borrowing costs spiked to 4.6%, and the pound tumbled by 1% against the dollar, dropping below $1.36 (£1). Behind the panic is concern over how Reeves will fill a growing hole in public finances after changes to key welfare reforms just 24 hours earlier to avoid a backbench revolt.
In the Commons, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch make much-criticised comments about the Chancellor, saying: “She looks absolutely miserable… Labour MPs are saying the Chancellor is toast. She’s just a human shield for his incompetence. Will she really be in post for the next election?”
Sources denied reports of a bust-up between Reeves and Starmer, though one insider said she had clashed with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle shortly before noon. Her spokesperson later insisted the tears were due to a personal issue and “not something we’ll be getting into”.
But the Chancellor’s tears – which came after a dramatic U-turn on cuts to Personal Independence Payments – fuelled talk of deepening instability at the top of government. The incident forced No10 to insist Reeves is “going nowhere”.
Borrowing costs dropped slightly after Number 10 tried to quell the rumours she might be replaced – but then rose again. “The chancellor is going nowhere, she has the prime minister’s full backing”, a government spokesperson said. Labour officials confirmed the Prime Minister and Chancellor spoke last night, insisting it was “business as usual”.
Speaking for the first time since the teary PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer assured he and his Chancellor are in “lockstep” as he praised the “excellent job” she is doing. He added that she will be Chancellor for “many years to come” after earlier dodging a question about her future in the Commons.
In his first words since Ms Reeves’s tearful appearance this afternoon, Mr Starmer told the BBC: “She’s done an excellent job as Chancellor and we have delivered inward investment to this country in record numbers.
“She and I work together, we think together. In the past there have been examples – I won’t give any specifics – of chancellors and prime ministers who weren’t in lockstep. We’re in lockstep.”
The PM said Ms Reeves’s tears were to do with a personal matter, on which he would not elaborate. He said it had “nothing to do with politics” or this week’s dramatic welfare U-turns.
Pressed on whether it was, Mr Starmer said: “That’s absolutely wrong. Nothing to do with what’s happened this week. It was a personal matter for her, I’m not going to intrude on her privacy by talking to you.”
Earlier in the day, a video shared from the Prime Minister’s X account had to be swiftly deleted after it showed the Chancellor in tears.