Reeves rises while Dodds drops in Labour reshuffle

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his shadow cabinet after the party’s disappointing election performance.

Among the changes are the promotion of Rachel Reeves to shadow chancellor, while Anneliese Dodds, her predecessor in the role, becomes party chairman.

– Rachel Reeves

Former economist Ms Reeves has added shadow chancellor to the long list of shadow roles she has held during her decade in Parliament.

First elected to represent Leeds West in 2010, within six months she was the shadow minister for pensions. After subsequent roles at shadowing in the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions, Ms Reeves assumed the role of shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – opposite Michael Gove – when Sir Keir became party leader.

She was good friends with constituency neighbour Jo Cox, who was killed in 2016. Paying a tearful tribute to her colleague in the Commons days after her death, Ms Reeves said of Ms Cox: “Batley and Spen will go on, to elect a new MP, but no one can replace a mother.”

Politics runs in the family, and Ms Reeves is married to a former private secretary and speech writer of Gordon Brown.

Her younger sister, Ellie also has a seat in Parliament as the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, and serves as the shadow Solicitor General.

Before arriving in Westminster, Ms Reeves worked as an economist at the Bank of England and the British Embassy in Washington DC.

– Anneliese Dodds

Labour MP for Oxford East since June 2017, Ms Dodds was an MEP for South East England for four years before taking her seat on the opposition benches.

A year after her election, she was made shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, before receiving her promotion to the shadow front bench in April last year.

A mother of two young children, 43-year-old Ms Dodds’ media skills were put to the test just days into her role as shadow chancellor, when her daughter burst in during an interview with Sky News.

“I thought she was going to stay asleep, sorry… so embarrassing,” Ms Dodds said when asked about the moment at the interview’s close.

“She’s thankfully under the chair now.”

Ms Dodds has now been relegated to the role of party chairman and chair of Labour Policy Review.

Before politics, Aberdeen-born Ms Dodds worked as an academic and it is thought her research focused on public policy and risk in different industries, sectors and nations.