Editing one’s LinkedIn profile is hardly headline news, normally. But Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is in hot water over changes made to her online CV last week. The situation has prompted a number of memes and jokes online.
A debate has arisen over the accuracy of Reeves describing herself as an “economist”. Before becoming an MP for Labour, Reeves worked for the Bank of England and HBOS (the merged Halifax and Bank of Scotland) before going into politics.
A spokesperson for No 10 insisted that Prime Minister Keir Starmer felt Reeves was fundamentally honest. “He is very clear that this is a Chancellor that has been straight with the public about the state of the public finances and what is necessary to restore financial stability,” she said. “That is most important.”
Internet wags have responded by making fake images of Reeves as an astronaut and making up lies about their own CVs.
I bet none of you Plebs knew that Rachel Reeves was the first female astronaut to remove her helmet on the moon's surface and talk shit without struggling for breath ... yeah, it's true, check out her CV pic.twitter.com/N7lKVw5eZD
— Wild Woman of Wales (@wildflowerwine) November 20, 2024
On October 24 2024, the right-wing political blog Guido Fawkes published an exposé claiming that Reeves was overplaying her role at HBOS. “The Chancellor states on her LinkedIn that she was working as an “economist” at HBOS. This is not true,” they said. “Guido can reveal that Reeves worked in a mundane support department at the bank, according to multiple former colleagues.”
Last Friday, Guido pointed out that Reeves’ LinkedIn profile had been changed to label of her title at HBOS from “Economist” to “Retail Banking”, and switched the label from Bank of Scotland to Halifax.
Rachel Reeves CV Reality pic.twitter.com/YWE2dQPOJw
— David P GCSE (multiple) (@DavidPGCSE) November 19, 2024
A spokesman for Reeves said: “She worked in retail banking covering various areas drawing on her background as an economist. Her LinkedIn has been updated to reflect that.“
The Sunday Telegraph then dug into an interview Reeves gave to Stylist magazine in October of 2021 where she said: “I spent a decade working as an economist at the Bank of England and loved it, so I was excited to be given the opportunity to help shape our country’s economic future”. However, Reeves’ LinkedIn states that she worked at the Bank of England for six years and four months between 2000 and 2006.
As someone who got a first class honours degree from Oxford University and a doctorate from Harvard I can’t understand all the fuss about Rachel Reeves telling the odd white lie on her CV.
— david hales (@westhamster2) November 19, 2024
Henry Newman, former special advisor to the previous Conservative government, pointed out on X that one of those six years had been spent studying at LSE.
Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick tweeted: “Reeves said she was an economist. Turns out she’s just economical with the truth”.
Richard Holden, Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, has written a letter to Reeves demanding that she “publish a full, unedited CV”.
Rachel Reeves lying on her CV is the literally the most relatable thing about her
— Les the Croc (@lesthecroc) November 15, 2024
Speaking on LBC yesterday, former Labour minister Siôn Simon defended Reeves. “It’s much better to have worked in retail banking than to have been an economist at the bank,” he said. “It was a much more interesting and challenging thing to have done than just to have been an economist for 10 years.”
Internet jokesters have seized on the drama. “As someone who got a first class honours degree from Oxford University and a doctorate from Harvard I can’t understand all the fuss about Rachel Reeves telling the odd white lie on her CV,” tweeted David Hales.
I'd like to wish Rachel Reeves the best of luck with her new self-help book, "How to Fake your CV".
— Simon70 (@SimonS1970) November 19, 2024
It's her first book that she hasn't plagiarised.
“Rachel Reeves lying on her CV is literally the most relatable thing about her,” said Les the Croc.
Some people referenced a previous drama about Reeves’ book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics. Last October, The Financial Times ran a story pointing out that numerous passages had been lifted from other sources without citation. Reeves admitted that there had been “inadvertent mistakes” and promised to correct them in reprints.
“I'd like to wish Rachel Reeves the best of luck with her new self-help book, "How to Fake your CV",” joked Simon70. “It's her first book that she hasn't plagiarised.”
