Rachel Jane Reeves

http://www.labour.org.uk/mp/rachel_reeves/512/

About Rachel Reeves

Rachel is the Member of Parliament for Leeds West. Elected in May 2010, she is the first female MP to represent a seat in Leeds since Alice Bacon, who served between 1945 and 1970. Since October 2010, Rachel has also been part of Labour’s front bench team, as Shadow Minister for Pensions. In this role, she has held the Government to account on its plans for the pensions system and focused her opposition on the plan to accelerate the increase in the State Pension Age.



In Leeds West, Rachel has worked hard to continue the community work pioneered by her predecessor, John Battle MP. She is leading the fight to save local swimming pool Bramley Baths which are threatened with closure because of Government cuts; she has successfully argued for better bus services in the constituency and has lobbied for the regeneration of Kirkstall Forge, which will create 1,100 new homes and 2,400 new jobs.



Rachel is a patron of many local charities, including Bramley Elderly Action, and she has sat on the board of Bramley and Rodley Community Action and the Leeds Healthy Living Network. Prior to her election, she was a governor at Kirkstall Valley Primary School and Leeds West Academy. Rachel is currently writing a biography of Alice Bacon and spends her spare time swimming, reading, watching films and travelling.







Rachel's Background







Rachel brings a wealth of experience to her role. She joined the Labour Party at age 16, motivated by her schooling in the state sector under the Thatcher and Major governments, and determined to be part of a movement which would fight to bring about a positive change for the future. While at school she was appalled by the cutting of extra-curricular activities such as music and sports, the lack of textbooks and resources for the pupils to use, the scrapping of special needs teaching and the conversion of the school’s libraries into classrooms to cope with oversized classes.



Rachel went on to earn a place at New College, Oxford, to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After completing her undergraduate studies, she went on to obtain a master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.



Before becoming an MP, Rachel worked as an economist for the Bank of England for six years, where she was seconded to the British Embassy in Washington. She then worked at Halifax Bank of Scotland and says that she is one of the few MPs to be moving to a more popular profession. She is a regular commentator on economic matters and a strong critic of the current Government’s policy.



Rachel has just got married and shares her time between London and Leeds.