Rachel Reeves’ political woes intensified on Thursday after the spotlight shifted from a sluggish UK economy to revelations that the chancellor was the subject of an expenses probe during her earlier career as a bank executive.
A BBC investigation also revealed that Reeves’ LinkedIn profile exaggerated the time she worked as an economist at the Bank of England, further undermining her claim to have spent the “best part of a decade” there.
Reeves’ spokesperson blamed an “administrative error” for the incorrect dates stated for her time at the central bank and said she was “not aware of an investigation nor was she interviewed” in relation to expenses claims during her time at Halifax Bank of Scotland.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch seized on the disclosures, saying the investigation raised “serious questions” and called into question Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment to restoring trust in politics.
“Until she comes clean — not just about her CV but about the circumstances in which she left HBOS, no one will take him seriously,” Badenoch said.
Reeves is already under political pressure over low economic growth and her £40bn tax-raising Budget last year, so questions about her life before Westminster come at an awkward time.
Downing Street said Starmer had full confidence in Reeves — who has said she is “deeply proud” to be Britain’s first female chancellor — and did not have any concerns about her conduct prior to taking office. She remains popular with most Labour MPs.
Reeves’ allies described the revelations as “utter nonsense” and an attempt to undermine the credentials of a finance minister who is a trained economist with degrees from Oxford university and the London School of Economics.
The BBC reported that there had been an internal investigation into Reeves, who worked in the complaints department at HBOS between 2006 and 2009, and two other senior managers following a six-page whistleblowing complaint.
The whistleblower claimed they had used the bank’s money to “fund a lifestyle” with allegedly inappropriate spending on dinners, events, taxis and gifts, including for each other.
The claim was investigated by the bank’s internal audit committee. Reeves’ allies said HBOS was duty bound to look into allegations by a whistleblower but that the claims were unfounded.
Reeves’ spokesperson said: “She did not face any disciplinary action on this or any other matters. All expenses were submitted and signed off in the proper way.”
The BBC said it was not clear if the investigation had concluded and Jayne Wayper, former HR business partner at HBOS, said she would have been aware had any investigation concluded or if there had been any case to answer.
“I cannot speak for the motivations behind those making these claims about Rachel Reeves,” Wayper said. “However I do not recognise them and understand she left the bank on good terms.”
The chancellor’s spokesperson also said Reeves left HBOS in 2009 “on good terms and received a severance payment, including her full notice pay and bonus”.
Reeves on Thursday also had to contend with revelations that she left the BoE earlier than stated in her LinkedIn profile, meaning that she spent just over five and a half years working at the central bank, including almost a year studying for a masters at the LSE.
The chancellor’s profile had claimed she worked at the BoE between September 2000 and December 2006, but the BBC established she had left by March 2006 when she began working for HBOS in West Yorkshire.
The chancellor’s spokesperson said the dates on her LinkedIn profile “were inaccurate due to an administrative error by a member of the team”, and that Reeves did not see it before it was published.
It has now been changed. An updated LinkedIn profile lists her time at the BoE as: “Sep 2000 — Mar 2006 · 5 yrs 7 mos.”
An ally of Reeves said that when the chancellor described her stint at the BoE between 2000 and 2006 as “the best part of the decade” it had been a “turn of phrase”, and that she was “proud” of her work at the BoE and HBOS.