Rachel Reeves: I’ll be iron chancellor who gets UK economy back on track

Labour will fight the next election on the economy, Rachel Reeves has told the party’s conference, claiming she would be the “iron” chancellor who would help rebuild Britain after 13 years of Conservative rule.

In a conference speech with few new policy announcements, the shadow chancellor set out her version of Bidenesque economic nationalism that would grow the economy “from the bottom up and the middle out” in the interests of working people.

Related: ‘Covid corruption commissioner’ would seek to recoup lost billions, says Labour

With an introduction by the high street expert Mary Portas and a video endorsement from the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney after her speech, Reeves presented herself as a serious player who had the determination to make the tough decisions needed to win.

She told a packed hall in Liverpool that she intended to address them as Britain’s first female chancellor when they next met – despite rumours at Westminster that Rishi Sunak could promote his ally Claire Coutinho to the role before the election.

“The post of chancellor of the exchequer has existed for 800 years. In that time – not one single woman has held that post,” she said.

Reeves said she did not underestimate the scale of the task ahead for Labour as it attempted to overturn the Tories’ massive majority at the next election. “Change will be achieved only on the basis of iron discipline,” she said.

“Working people rightly expect nothing less. Because when you play fast and loose with public finances, you put at risk family finances.”

She pledged to “wage a war” against fraud, waste and inefficiency. A Labour government would slash government spending on consultants, which has almost quadrupled in just six years, raising about £1.4bn by bringing in new rules requiring departments to make the value-for-money case.

They would more robustly enforce the ministerial code on the use of private jets, saving millions of pounds of taxpayers money, she said, highlighting the prime minister’s frequent use of private aircraft to fly around the country. “What is Rishi Sunak so scared of up there in his private jet? Meeting a voter?” she said.

She would also create a powerful Covid corruption commissioner to help recoup about £2.6bn of taxpayers’ money that has been lost to waste, fraud and flawed contracts during the pandemic.

Reeves confirmed a series of major policies Labour would introduce in government including a new fiscal lock on ministerial spending, speeding up the planning system for major infrastructure – including the electricity grid – and a range of already announced tax policies.

Ministers would also have to consult the official watchdog on major tax and spending changes under Labour plans that would prevent a repeat of Liz Truss’s ill-fated mini-budget.

Reeves told Labour activists that the party would fight the next election on the economy. “The questions people should ask themselves ahead of the next election are simple: do you and your family feel better off than you did 13 years ago?” she said. “Do our hospitals, our schools and our police work better than 13 years ago? Frankly, is there anything in Britain that works better than when the Conservatives came into office 13 years ago?”

Reeves echoed Joe Biden’s language on economic nationalism, which she calls “securonomics”. “It means we must rebuild our ability to do, make and sell here in Britain so we are less exposed to global shocks,” she said. “Governments around the world have come to understand, as our government cannot, that wealth does not trickle down from a few at the top, but rests on the contribution of the many.

“On the skill and dedication of those who work in our everyday economy: careworkers, postal workers, supermarket workers and on entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists. Growth from the bottom up and the middle out. An economy rebuilt in the interests of working people. Because from security, comes hope.”

In a video message after her speech, Reeves received a glowing endorsement from Carney, who told the audience: “Rachel Reeves is a serious economist. She began her career at the Bank of England, so she understands the big picture. But, crucially, she understands the economics of work, of place and family. It is beyond time we put her energy and ideas into action.”