Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Angela Eagle
Shadow Pensions Minister
In office 7 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Succeeded by	Gregg McClymont
Member of Parliament for Leeds West
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	John Battle
Majority	7,016 (18.1%)
Personal details
Born	(1979-02-13) 13 February 1979 (age 33) Lewisham, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Nicholas Joicey
Residence	Kirkstall
Alma mater	New College, Oxford London School of Economics
Occupation	Economist
Website	rachelreeves.net

Rachel Jane Reeves (born 13 February 1979) is a British economist and a Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010. She served as Shadow Pensions Minister from October 2010 until October 2011, when she was appointed as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Ed Miliband.^[1]

Background

Reeves was born in Lewisham^[2] to Graham and Sally Reeves.^[3] She was educated at Cator Park School for Girls in Bromley, South East London.^[4] She cites the influence of her father on herself and her sister supporting the Labour Party, recalling how when she was eight years old he pointed out Neil Kinnock on the television and "told us that was who we voted for". Reeves says both she and her sister had "both known we were Labour since then".^[5] She joined the Labour Party at age 16.^[6] She was the Under-14 UK girls chess champion^[7] and always had an aptitude for maths.^[8]

She read politics, philosophy and economics at New College, Oxford, followed by an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.^[9]

Career

Reeves worked as an economist at the Bank of England and British Embassy in Washington, D.C. between 2000 and 2006.^[10] Between 2006 and July 2009, she worked as a business planner and analyst for Halifax Bank of Scotland (now part of Lloyds Banking Group).^[11] She was once interviewed for a job at Goldman Sachs but turned it down. She said the job could have made her "a lot richer".^[8]

She stood as the Labour Party candidate in the Conservative safe seat Bromley and Chislehurst in the 2005 general election where she finished second.^[12] She again contested the seat in the 2006 by-election following the death of sitting MP Eric Forth and finished fourth. Reeves' support reduced from 10,241 votes to 1,925 in what was described as a "humiliation" for Labour.^[13][14] The result was the worst performance for a governing party since 1991.^[15][16]

Member of Parliament

Reeves moved to Leeds in 2006 to work for Halifax Bank of Scotland. She later sought nomination for the Leeds West seat at the 2010 General Election.^[17] She was selected by the Labour Party to contest the seat from an all-women shortlist imposed by Labour head office.^[2] She defended the Labour safe seat replacing John Battle, who had chosen to retire.^[18] Reeves was elected with a majority of 7,016 on 6 May 2010, a 5,794 reduction in majority compared to her predecessor,^[19] becoming the first female to represent a Leeds constituency since Alice Bacon, who was an MP in the city for 25 years until 1970.^[20]

In her maiden speech, delivered on 8 June 2010,^[21] Reeves praised the work of her predecessor, John Battle, and pledged to fight for jobs, growth and prosperity for Leeds West.^[22] Reeves also pledged to follow in Battle's footsteps and fight for justice for the victims of the Armley asbestos disaster and their families. In a series of questions in Parliament, Reeves enquired whether the government would honour promises by the previous government to compensate victims of asbestos diagnosed with pleural plaques and bring legislation into force making it easier to pursue claims against insurers.^[23]

After the 2010 election she supported Ed Miliband for the Labour leadership, because she felt he was the candidate most willing to listen to what the voters were saying about where the party went wrong.^[24] Since becoming an MP, Reeves was elected to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee^[25] and was appointed Shadow Pensions Minister in October 2010.^[26] In her role as Shadow Pensions Minister she campaigned against the Government's proposed acceleration of equalising state pensions ages for men and women.^[27] She was promoted to the post of Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in October 2011.^[28]

Reeves is a supporter of the High Speed Rail campaign,^[29] raising the issue in Parliament,^[30] as well as campaigning for the proposed Kirkstall Forge railway station.^[31] She is also involved in the campaign to save the historic Bramley Baths^[32] and the campaign to save the children's heart unit at the Leeds General Infirmary.^[33]

Reeves has been named by The Guardian newspaper as one of several MPs who employ unpaid interns, a practice that some maintain may breach the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.^[34] The Independent newspaper names Reeves as a member of a group of new Labour MPs known as the "Nando's Five".^[35] The other members are Chuka Umunna MP, Luciana Berger MP, Jonathan Reynolds MP and Emma Reynolds MP.

Writing

Reeves has written on the financial crisis of 2007–2010 for the Fabian Review, Institute of Public Policy Research,^[36] Socialist Environment and Resources Association,^[37] and European Journal of Political Economy.^[38] Following her election as MP, Reeves wrote about the direction of UK government fiscal policy in Renewal, the Journal of Social Democracy. In an article entitled "The Politics of Deficit Reduction",^[39] Reeves offers her critique of the current financial situation and efforts to bring down the budget deficit.

Reeves is a proponent of Quantitative Easing^[40] to alleviate the Late-2000s recession having studied the effects of the policy on Japan in the early 2000s.^[41]

Following similar titles by Roy Jenkins in 1959 and Tony Wright in 1997, Reeves wrote the new edition of Why Vote Labour?, as part of a series giving the case for each of the main political parties at the 2010 general election.^[42]

Reeves regularly contributes articles to publications such as LabourList,^[43] Progress Online^[44] and Comment is Free.^[45] She is currently writing a biography of Alice Bacon,^[9] the only other female to have served as a Member of Parliament for a Leeds constituency.^[46]

She is a supporter of Israel, writing a chapter for a book about Israeli politics and society,^[47] and she is a keen supporter of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.^[48]

Personal life

Reeves is married to Nicholas Joicey,^[49] director of the international department HM Treasury.^[50][51] and a former private secretary and speech writer to Gordon Brown.^[52] She lives in Kirkstall, Leeds, and London.^[53] Reeves younger sister, Ellie, is a member of Labour's ruling National Executive and sits on Labour's Joint Policy Committee and is the partner of John Cryer.^[17][54]

Reeves spends her free time swimming, reading and walking.^[9][17] According to official parliamentary records she also enjoys wedding cakes and flower arranging.^[55] Reeves is a patron of Bramley Elderly Action and a trustee of Leeds Healthy Living Network.^[9] She was previously on the board of BARCA - Leeds and a governor of Swallow Hill Community College, and Kirkstall Valley Primary School.^[9]

References

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (November 2011)

External links

• Official website
• Ethos Journal Profile: Rachel Reeves the Guardian's Andrew Sparrow profiles Rachel Reeves