Rachel Reeves was proud to be Britain’s first female Chancellor but the Labour party have still never had a female leader. So should Burnham have put a woman in the finance brief? Two writers go head to head… Yes: economic leadership should reflect the economy it serves Labour doesn’t need
Alys Denby
Wednesday 22 July 2026 5:33 am | Updated: Wednesday 22 July 2026 10:04 am
Rachel Reeves was proud to be Britain’s first female Chancellor but the Labour party have still never had a female leader. So should Burnham have put a woman in the finance brief? Two writers go head to head…
Yes: economic leadership should reflect the economy it serves
Labour doesn’t need a female Chancellor simply for the sake of optics. It needs the best person for the job. But if we’re honest about how leadership pipelines work, that’s exactly why having more women in the most senior economic roles matters. For decades, women have been told that merit alone will deliver equal representation at the top.
Yet despite making up half the population and a growing share of business founders, executives and financial professionals, women remain underrepresented in the roles that shape economic policy and investment decisions.
As a business founder, I’ve seen first-hand the value that diverse leadership brings. Different perspectives lead to better questions, more robust decision-making and a broader understanding of how policies affect people and businesses on the ground. Economic leadership should reflect the economy it serves.
A female Chancellor would send an important signal to aspiring entrepreneurs, business leaders and young women that the highest financial office in the country is within reach. Representation isn’t just symbolic, it influences who puts themselves forward, who is listened to and who is given opportunities.
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The UK has already shown that women can successfully lead major government departments, global businesses and financial institutions. The question is no longer whether women are capable of managing the nation’s finances. That argument has long been settled. What matters now is ensuring that talent is recognised wherever it exists and that leadership teams don’t continue to draw from the same narrow pool.
If Labour has a highly qualified woman who can deliver growth, fiscal responsibility and business confidence, it shouldn’t hesitate. The strongest economies are built by making full use of available talent. That principle should apply in government just as much as it does in business.
Rachel Watkyn is founder of Tiny Box Company
Read more Sadiq Khan lobbies Burnham to appoint Miliband as Chancellor No: Making gender the key issue is disingenuous, hiding political preference behind arguments about representation
In the 2020 leadership race, that Labour had never had a female leader was a live part of conversations. When this change of leader came around, it was not substantially discussed. I think most people in Labour want gender balance across the levels of power within the party, but in any specific role – Chancellor, for example – arguments that rely centrally on gender will fall short.
Ultimately, in positions of power it is the talents and the politics (positions, networks, allies, etc) of the person that will mean they are able to attract supporters and win arguments – or not. The contention that a certain role should go to a woman will, in most conversations, only ever be a supporting factor and not a deal breaker. Attempts to make it the key issue are often seen as disingenuous. Indeed sometimes they are, hiding political preference behind arguments about representation.
Ultimately what matters is a solid talent pipeline for women in the party, at all levels: councillor, mayor, MP and minister. Labour has many excellent institutions supporting this, and it has been bolstered by the party’s historic support for all-women shortlists.
To accompany this must be an eye for patterns about how women are treated: personally, I think how many women there are in key decision-making roles in no 10 will tell us more about the gender economy of Burnhamism than the first female Chancellor not being directly followed by a second.
Morgan Jones is head of comms at Persuasion
The Verdict: merit matters most when it’s you tax at stake
Two things can be true at the same time. First, it is obviously correct that the Chancellor should be the best person for the job, especially at a time when the nation’s finances are in such peril. But Watkyn is also right that diverse leadership makes for better decision-making.
The more subtle question is why the prominence of women is such a pathology for the Labour party. Despite having many more women and ethnic minority MPs, it has been much less successful than the Conservative party in promoting them. Tories tend not to worry about the gender split of the top team because Margaret Thatcher broke the glass ceiling 51 years ago, whereas Labour’s women are still waiting. Therefore it is in the interests of the Labour Party to prove they mean what they say about equality by appointing women to senior positions. But as often with Labour’s superficial obsessions, it’s not necessarily something the country can afford, and it is refreshing that Jones no longer believes gender is driving debates within the Party. Rachel Reeves has proved women can be mediocre Chancellors. When it comes to the economy and your taxes, merit matters most.
Read more Shabana Mahmood set to be named Chancellor by Burnham
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