Rachel Jane Reeves is a British Labour Party politician born on 13 February 1979 in Lewisham, south-east London.

She has served as the Member of Parliament for Leeds West and Pudsey, previously Leeds West, since 2010.

The daughter of teachers Graham and Sally Reeves, she grew up in a household that valued education and public service, though her parents separated when she was in primary school.

She attended the comprehensive Cator Park School for Girls in Beckenham, where she studied A-levels in mathematics, further mathematics, economics and politics.

Reeves went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College, Oxford, graduating in 2000, and later earned a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.

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    Siblings

    Rachel has one sibling, her younger sister Ellie Reeves, who is approximately two years her junior.

    Ellie is also a Labour Party politician and has represented the constituency of Lewisham West and East Dulwich, previously Lewisham West and Penge, as a Member of Parliament since 2017.

    The sisters grew up together in south-east London and attended the same school.

    Their shared interest in politics was evident from an early age; during a school mock election coinciding with the 1992 general election, Rachel stood as a candidate while Ellie acted as her campaign manager, handling leaflets and stickers.

    Both joined the Labour Party as teenagers and later studied at Oxford University, with Ellie reading law at St Catherine’s College.

    The pair have become one of the most prominent sibling duos in British politics, both rising to senior roles within the Labour Party and government.

    Rachel Reeves and her sister Ellie PHOTO/The Independent

    Career

    After university, Reeves began her professional life as an economist at the Bank of England in 2000, remaining there until 2006.

    During this period she worked on the Japan desk and spent time at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. She later moved to Leeds to work in the retail banking division of HBOS until 2009.

    Her political career began with unsuccessful candidacies before she was elected as MP for Leeds West in the 2010 general election.

    She quickly rose through the ranks, serving as Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under Ed Miliband.

    During Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership she sat on the backbenches and chaired the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee from 2017 to 2020.

    Under Keir Starmer she returned to the front bench, eventually becoming Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2021.

    Following Labour’s victory in the 2024 general election she was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, becoming the first woman to hold the office in its more than 800-year history.

    She has also written a biography of Labour politician Alice Bacon, published in 2017.

    Accolades

    Among her early distinctions, Reeves was the British girls’ under-14 chess champion in 1993 after learning the game from her father at the age of seven.

    She has often cited the strategic thinking developed through chess as useful in politics. She became only the third student from her comprehensive school to gain a place at Oxford.

    Her appointment as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer marked a historic milestone.

    She has been recognised as a leading economic voice within the Labour Party and one half of a highly influential political sibling partnership with her sister Ellie.