Farmers across the country have remained unimpressed with Rachel Reeves.
For many, Rachel Reeves only became a household name after achieving historic fame as the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK’s 800-year history, having been appointed in July 2024 following the Labour Party’s election victory. Despite this, the politician has faced an unforeseen humiliation after the subsequent drop in popularity for the current UK Government. Much of the distaste and dissatisfaction stemmed from unwelcome changes made during Reeves’ tenure as Chancellor, the most controversial being changes to inheritance tax for farmers.
As a result, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey was scrutinised on Jeremy Clarkson’s hit Prime Video series, Clarkson’s Farm, where the famous presenter learns how to run his 1,000-acre farm with no agricultural experience. During the season five opener, he slammed: “She’s claiming that only 73% of farms will be affected by the changes, which is nonsense.”
Clarkson’s Farm
In addition to joining farmers on the streets of London in protest, Jeremy ranted about the impact of the Chancellor’s autumn budget on the show.
Talking to his business adviser, Charlie Ireland, the TV host fumed: “I mean, it’s just not true. She’s claiming it’s only a tiny [portion], and it isn’t. Anyone whose land and assets are worth more than a million is hit, so if you’ve got a hundred acres in Huddersfield and you’ve got a tractor and a combine harvester, you’re being clobbered.”
Jeremy added: “And I can see why Rachel Reeves would come after people like that, the rich people who have bought land in the countryside, i.e. me. But she’s just got a blunderbus and fired at the investment bankers or James Dyson, who’s the Hoover man with eight billion acres. She’s aimed for him, but she’s hit all the farmers.”
In further humiliation for Reeves, this sparked a flurry of furious comments from viewers on social media.
Sky News
Reeves suffered an unfortunate audio glitch during a 2025 Sky News interview with presenter Wilfred Frost.
The Chancellor had joined via video link to discuss the breaking news that UK inflation had risen to 3.5% the month prior, marking the largest month-on-month increase seen in two and a half years.
Despite the importance of their discussion, Wilfred was forced to interrupt Reeves after the blunder made her voice sound extremely high-pitched and distracting.
The presenter apologised for the technical glitch: “I think we’ve got a problem there with the sound, again.” After he questioned whether they could resolve the issue, he added: “Nope, I don’t think we can.”
Petrol station heckler
Reeves was forced to smile and nod while being heckled by a moody motorist at a petrol station in Leeds.
As he drove past the politician in a white van adorned with St George flags, he shouted: “Look at Rachel Reeves, she’s there with a smile on her face.” He then fumed: “You’re ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer out.”
Responding to her constituent, the MP sheepishly stuttered back: “I love our country, and one thing I love about our country is good manners.” As he continued to shout from the van, Reeves remarked: “Not very British.”
The Chancellor had been at the Leeds petrol station to announce plans to scrap a proposed increase in fuel duty.
Prime Minister’s Questions
In July 2025, Reeves appeared to have an emotional moment while sitting in the front row of the House of Commons.
During the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions, viewers were distracted by the Chancellor, who appeared visibly upset and quietly shedding tears as Sir Keir addressed the chamber.
At the time, her future in Government was uncertain, which led many to believe that was the reason for her state, but the Prime Minister later confirmed that she’s “going nowhere”.
Later, a spokesperson for Ms Reeves told journalists that the reason for her emotional state “is a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into.”
OBR Budget leak
Reeves was forced to face further humiliation during the PMQs in November 2025 after the OBR Budget was leaked before she could deliver it to the House.
Speaking before her with rage, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has warned that the leak “could be a criminal offence” and demanded an inquiry into the OBR.
He said: “We have seen an unprecedented leak of the OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook report before the Budget. This report contains market-sensitive information.
“It is utterly outrageous that this has happened, and this leak may indeed constitute a criminal act.” “In Prime Minister’s Questions, the Leader of the Opposition asked the Prime Minister about this leak, but he refused to answer her question.”
The OBR later apologised for publishing its analysis of the Budget “too early”, blaming it on a “technical error”, and said it has initiated an investigation into how this happened.
They added: “We will be reporting to our Oversight Board, the Treasury, and the Commons Treasury Committee on how this happened, and we will make sure this does not happen again.”
