Rachel Reeves’ Big Ego: The Chancellor’s Biggest Liability

Have you ever had a really big ego? But no ability at all? Rachel has...

When Rachel Reeves said of Jeremy Corbyn “the bloke’s got a big ego,” she inadvertently shone a light on the very trait she most embodies. While Reeves lambasts her predecessor for perceived self-importance, her own recent conduct suggests a misplaced confidence - and at times arrogance - that rivals the worst of Westminster’s showmen.

At the Edinburgh Fringe, Reeves strode on stage in a striking black jumpsuit and orange scarf, greeting audiences as though she were headlining rather than speaking policy. Her breezy dismissal of critics and boasts about her record suggested a performer more than a public servant - proud, unflappable, and convinced of her own indispensability

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Reeves’s theatrical flair extends beyond wardrobe. In June’s Prime Minister’s Questions, she was moved to tears, a moment seized by opposition MPs as calculated grandstanding. Rather than evince genuine vulnerability, many saw a chancellor using emotion to deflect scrutiny - a hallmark of ego outweighing empathy.

Her policy decisions reflect similar hubris. The £25 billion national insurance rise on businesses drew fire even from Labour allies - former Labour backer Gary Neville warned that swelling taxes risked stifling job creation and denting the recovery. If humility underpinned Reeves’s leadership, she might have tempered these hikes in response to such warnings.

Experts outside politics have also taken issue with Reeves' self-aggrandising rhetoric. In a letter to the Financial Times, the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management criticized Reeves’s inflammatory language on planning reforms, noting that casting environmental safeguards as “roadblocks” erodes public trust without evidence.

Matthew Parris, writing in The Spectator, argued that Reeves’s polished image in opposition masked an “empty vessel” when it came to concrete plans. He suggested commentators were dazzled by her confidence, failing to probe the substance - or lack thereof - behind the performance.

Before she points fingers at others, Reeves might pause to reflect on whether her penchant for the spotlight and unyielding self-assurance serve the country - or simply inflate her own ego.