Rachel Reeves has been on a charm offensive with the City – but will it work for Labour?

As shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves tries to convince business leaders that Labour can “bring growth back to Britain”, she must be ready to detail her tax and spending plans fully to really sell Keir Starmer’s economic message writes Chris Blackhurst.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers a speech during a visit to Rolls-Royce in Derby (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Rishi Sunak had become increasingly frustrated as the economic outlook improved but he and his ministers received little credit.

It was this that made up his mind to go to the country. There seemed little point in waiting for things to get better (to quote the well-worn Labour song). They might, they might not.

He must hope that while voters did not show their appreciation in the recent local elections, they will do so in the Big One. While the Tories were punished in the council ballots, he could derive encouragement that Labour’s vote was soft: Tory defectors did not switch en masse to Keir Starmer’s party.