Kemi Badenoch slams Rachel Reeves for banging on about being first female Chancellor
KEMI Badenoch yesterday took aim at Rachel Reeves for banging on about being the first female Chancellor.
The new Tory leader said Ms Reeves’ milestone was a “very, very low glass ceiling” compared with what other women had achieved.
Her swipe came as she played down her own historic role as the first black leader of a major UK political party.
Asked whether she was pleased people were recognising her achievement, she told the BBC: “I think that the best thing will be when we get to a point where the colour of your skin is no more remarkable than the colour of your eyes or the colour of your hair.
She went on: “I find it astonishing Rachel Reeves keeps talking about how she’s the first female Chancellor which in my view is a very, very low glass ceiling in the Labour Party that she may have smashed.
“Nowhere near as significant as what other women in this country have achieved.”
The mum of three joined Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and Liz Truss as leaders of the Tories on Saturday after beating Robert Jenrick in the battle to succeed Rishi Sunak.
Kicking off her first day in charge, Ms Badenoch ripped into Ms Reeves’ tax and spend approach, insisting her Budget would make Britain poorer.
But she said, for now, she was more focused on setting out her party’s principles rather than “throwing out policies”.
Last night, she made the first appointment of her Shadow Cabinet, naming Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris as the party’s chief whip.