Keir Starmer refuses to say Rachel Reeves will keep job as Chancellor

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say he will keep Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her job. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged the PM to say whether he still planned to have Ms Reeves as Chancellor until the next election.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs Badenoch said Ms Reeves - seated beside Sir Keir - looked "absolutely miserable".

Mrs Badenoch said: "The fact is Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the Chancellor is toast and the reality is she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?"

The Prime Minister took a verbal swipe at the Conservative leader, saying Mrs Badenoch "certainly won't" be in the job when the country next goes to the polls.

He said: "I have to say, I'm always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are."

Ms Reeves looked emotional and appeared to shed a tear as the PM launched a defence of Labour's record in power. But the Leader of the Opposition pounced on the lack of a pledge to keep the Chancellor in post.

She said: "How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she would stay in place."

Ellie Reeves - the Chancellor's sister and chair of the Labour party - clutched her hand as they left the chamber after Prime Minister's Questions.

Soon after MPs had left the chamber, a spokesman for Chancellor was reported commenting on her signs of upset, saying: "It's a personal matter, which - as you would expect - we are not going to get into. The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon."