Who is Rachel Reeves?

The chancellor received a timely boost on Wednesday with news that British inflation has fallen to its lowest levels since June.

"This fall in inflation is good news for households and businesses across the country, but I'm determined to do more to bring prices down,” she said.

"That's why at the Budget next week I will take the fair choices to deliver on the public's priorities to cut NHS waiting lists, cut national debt and cut the cost of living."

Ms Reeves is contending against “weaker-than-expected" economic growth figures.

She blamed the weaker performance on the Jaguar Land Rover production shutdown in the wake of its cyber attack, with gross domestic product (GDP) declining 0.1% in September.

Economic expert Andy Haldane put this down to rumours of what could be in the budget.

Who is Rachel Reeves?

Rachel Reeves is the chancellor of the exchequer, having been appointed by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer after Labour’s election victory in 2024.

Also MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, Ms Reeves’s role means she is “chief financial minister and as such is responsible for growing the UK economy, raising revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling public spending,” states her government profile.

What is Rachel Reeves’s background?

Rachel Reeves, 46, was born in Lewisham, south London, and became a member of the Labour Party as a teenager - campaigning ahead of Tony Blair’s victory in 1997.

After graduating from Oxford University, she worked in the Bank of England from 2000 to 2006 before moving to Leeds to work for the retail arm of the bank HBOS.

Ms Reeves was a paper candidate in the 2005 general election and won her current Leeds seat in 2010, having been selected by the party from an all-female shortlist.

During the Tory government, she served as chairman of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee from 2017 to 2020.

Is Rachel Reeves married?

Rachel Reeves is married to Nicholas Joicey, 55, who is Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ms Reeves gave birth to their daughter in 2012, and son in 2015.

Who is Rachel Reeves’s sister?

Rachel Reeves’s sister is Ellie Reeves, who is also an MP and has represented Lewisham West and East Dulwich since 2017.

Ellie has recently been appointed solicitor general for England and Wales. She was seen comforting her older sister when Rachel Reeves was seen to cry during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this year.

Other sibling MPs are Angela and Maria Eagle, while fellow Labour MPs Emma Foody and Alex Morris are married. Louise Sandher-Jones and Jeevun Sandher, both Labour MPs, are also married. Ellie Reeves’s husband John Cryer was an MP until the last election and is now a Lord.

When is the Autumn Budget 2025, and what could be in it?

Rachel Reeves announced in September that the 2025 Autumn Budget would be on Wednesday, November 26.

The chancellor will deliver her speech from the House of Commons and the contents of it will set out potential spending modifications, changes to tax, or a different fiscal strategy.

While Labour frontbenchers, even health secretary Wes Streeting, have said they do not know what might be announced, there has been speculation of what will lie within the red briefcase.

Could there be a tax rise in the Autumn Budget 2025?

Ms Reeves is widely thought to be set to raise taxes, but has ruled out a manifesto-busting income tax hike.

Left-leaning opponents and think tanks have called on her to focus her plans on the wealthiest instead of pursuing broad-based tax rises.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch warned, rather, that the Budget will instead be nothing more than “stealth tax bombshell” on workers to pay.

The Conservative leader added that the U-turn on welfare reforms following a Labour revolt and the expected scrapping of the two-child benefit cap will leave Ms Reeves needing to find £8.5 billion.

Mr Haldane said: “Right now, we have this halfway house of leaks and speculation which serves absolutely no one. Least of all the economy.”

You can follow all the events on the day on the LBC live blog.