Whatever else may be said for Rachel Reeves’s time as chancellor, she will be noted for personal innovation and reforms – albeit not always welcome ones.
She is the first female chancellor of the exchequer in the 800 years or so that the post has existed. She is right to be proud of that. (Sadly, she is also the first incumbent to have had to object to being subjected to “mansplaining” and worse.) Her tenure has also seen the end of any vestiges of the old practice of Budget “purdah”, whereby officials and ministers took a vow of silence and media chastity for months before the Big Day.
