Barely six months after the UK general election, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ political opponents are calling for her to resign. Former prime minster Boris Johnson cast one of the first stones with a post on X about “Rachel from accounts”.
Reeves has undoubtedly faced unwelcome headlines about high UK borrowing costs and a flatlining economy. But nonetheless, this could appear as a particularly harsh treatment of a relatively new chancellor. (It could also be sexism.) But how common is it for finance ministers to resign or be sacked early on in the government’s term?
A global study of 2,976 finance ministers over a period of 45 years found that, as you might expect, economic performance tends to affect their tenure in office. Low economic growth is associated with shorter tenures.
