Rachel Reeves’s future as Chancellor has been thrown into doubt by Keir Starmer as he twice refused to confirm she would stay on and appointed a senior Treasury official as a top adviser amid the fallout from her Budget. The Telegraph has more.
Sir Keir Starmer twice refused to guarantee that Ms. Reeves would still be Chancellor at the next election during a press conference on Monday morning.
His spokesman was later forced to insist that the Chancellor would be kept in post, but the Prime Minister’s comments prompted one Labour MP to privately call for her to be sacked if the situation does not improve.
There is speculation that Ms. Reeves could be replaced by Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who is often described as the de facto Deputy Prime Minister, or Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary.
It also emerged on Monday that Sir Keir had appointed Olaf Henricson-Bell, the former Treasury official, as his Director of Policy in what will be seen by some as a blow to the Chancellor’s authority.
It follows calls for Sir Keir to appoint someone with meaningful Treasury or economic experience to No 10.
The Conservatives accused Sir Keir of using the Chancellor as a “scapegoat” for the dire state of the economy, while Reform U.K. said she was merely implementing “his economic agenda”.
Lord Clarke, the former Tory Chancellor, said it would be a “disaster” for the Prime Minister to sack Ms. Reeves, as she had taken “controversial steps” with his backing.
Ms. Reeves is under mounting pressure over the state of the economy and public finances as the Government faces surging borrowing costs.
The turmoil in Britain’s financial markets continued on Monday, with oil prices soaring to a six-month high – provoking fresh inflation fears.
The pound fell to a new 14-month low as Goldman Sachs forecast that sterling will fall to $1.20 against the dollar over the next year.
Olaf Henricson-Bell, Starmer’s new policy chief, was the most senior communications adviser to three successive Chancellors under the previous Tory Government.
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