It has been a challenging and unexpected year for politics in the UK. FromRishi Sunak being voted out and replaced by Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, to Nigel Farage's comeback after his jungle reality TV stint.
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Amidst this, Rachel Reeves—a prominent figure in British politics—became the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2024. Reeves marked a historic milestone as she became the first woman to hold this position in over 800 years. The ‘hungry for work’ chancellor is responsible for overseeing the UK's economic and financial matters, including the Treasury, public spending, and monetary policy.
After refusing several times to give a clear answer about Labour’s proposed £28 billion investment in green projects, Reeves increased a special interest in her salary. Let’s look at her ‘comfortable’ six-figure salary and what she has said about it.
Rachel Reeves’ salary
As a Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West and Pudsey, Rachel Reeves earned a basic annual salary of £86,584 before she became the chancellor, reports The Standard. This was twice more than the average UK resident wage - £38,000 (As of November 2023).
After becoming the UK government's chief financial minister, Reeves is understood to be paid around £150,000 a year, as per Mirror. Meaning she makes more than thrice the average UK wage now.
Furthermore, Reeve’s husband, Nicholas Joicey, is a civil servant. As director general of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat at the Cabinet Office, he earned between £170,000 and £174,999 in 2022.
However, more recent reports by The Sun and Mirror say that he was appointed Defra Group Chief Operating Officer and Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in July 2023. Reportedly, this position earns him a minimum of £110,000 a year.
Rachel Reeves’ £74,000 rental income
Interestingly, after the chancellor announced a hugely unpopular budget in October 2024, it was revealed by The Telegraph that Reeves and her husband earn £74,000 annually from rental income. The revelation came as the budget significantly impacted landlords and second-home buyers with increased stamp duty costs.
The publication revealed that Reeves earns around £3,200 a month from her family home in South London as she now lives ‘rent-free’ with her family in Downing Street. Additionally, her husband Joicey has also been letting out his central London flat since 2011 and it gives him around £3,000 a month in rent.
Together their rental income is more than four times the average landlord’s earning of £16,500. The Telegraph quotes Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty as saying:
Having just announced a deeply unpopular Budget that has caused mortgages to rise, how does the Chancellor justify the £74,000 rental income of her and her husband’s London properties whilst living rent-free in Downing Street as their mortgages are paid for?
This additional income contributes to her overall financial standing.
Rachel Reeves’ comment about her salary: ‘It makes me wince’
In January 2024 Reeves faced criticism over her remarks about her salary. Talking to GB News previously, she said:
What makes me wince is when I look at my bank statement and I find that the money coming in is increasingly short of the money going out, whether it's the mortgage or the gas and electricity bills, the weekly shop.
She went on, explaining, ‘All the money that all of us spend over Christmas is putting a huge toll on family finances and I think very few people are not feeling the effects of that’. Her tone was no doubt meant to sound relatable but it struck the wrong cord, given that she earned over double the average salary in the UK when she made the statement.
At the time, a Tory source quipped to Mail Online:
If the shadow chancellor can't run her own bank account, how on earth does she expect the public to trust her with the economy?
Read more:
⋙ Rishi Sunak has been in office for one year: Here's the salary he earns as Prime Minister
⋙ Sir Keir Starmer earns a six-figure salary: Here's how much the Labour leader gets paid
⋙ Angela Rayner's bad habit earned her this terrible family nickname
Sources used:
Express: Rachel Reeves blasted for saying she struggles to live on her £86k a year salary
The Standard: Labour’s Rachel Reeves complains that her £86k salary has left her financially 'short'
Mirror: Chancellor Rachel Reeves' net worth, salary, and how much tax she pays
The Express: How Rachel Reeves said she struggled to live on £86k - before her bumper payrise
Hamariweb: Rachel Reeves
Mirror: Budget 2024: Rachel Reeves' rarely seen husband, famous sister and bold move with kids
The Sun: Who is Rachel Reeves’ husband Nicholas Joicey?
The Telegraph: Revealed: Rachel Reeves’s £74k rental income – after she hammered landlords in her Budget
