Rachel Reeves opens about moment she cried in Parliament

Rachel Reeves has described the time she moved markets by openly crying during Prime Minister’s Questions last year as her ‘toughest moment’ as Chancellor.

There was widespread confusion and shock last July when Reeves appeared distressed while sitting behind Keir Starmer in Parliament.

The incident came amid speculation – coinciding with the first anniversary of Labour’s election victory – that she was going to be dumped from her role.

Reeves has never revealed the specific reasons why she broke down, but she went into more detail about that day in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg this morning.

Asked about her ‘hardest’ moment in her two years as Chancellor, she laughed and replied: ‘I would say, don’t cry on national television.

‘That was probably my toughest moment – or perhaps even tougher, seeing the photos of me crying on national television on the front pages of every newspaper the following day.’

But she added even that was better than ‘the 14 years in opposition’ when she was unable to make any changes to the country.

Pressed on why she was crying, she said: ‘It was a tough day, we all have tough days.

‘I talk to my friends, and people wrote to me saying “that happened to me once,” and the only difference is that I was on the telly.

‘People have difficult days at work, and that was one for me.’

In an interview the day after the incident, Reeves said ‘a personal issue’ was behind her emotional state and that she would not go into the details.

She has spoken before about how she saw it as her ‘job as Chancellor’ to sit behind the PM at midday every Wednesday.

Reeves’ sit-down chat with Kuenssberg may prove to be one of her final interviews as Chancellor, with incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham expected to switch her out at the Treasury.

Among the top candidates to replace her are Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, and former Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Reflecting on her time at No 11, Reeves said: ‘I will go down in history as the first female Chancellor.

‘But what I really hope is that – something I said, actually, when I gave my first speech as Chancellor, that I would know my time in office was a success if young women and girls felt there should be no ceiling on their ambition.

‘And I do know, and I do believe, that there are young women today who say, “Maybe I could do that job one day.” That’s a great thing.’

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