When Rachel Reeves wept: Why tears in politics are no bad thing

Jemimah Wright reflects on the reactions to Rachel Reeves’s visible distress in Parliament and what this reveals about our expectations of emotional strength in leadership. 

A few days ago, Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor, did something almost shocking by Westminster’s standards: she cried. During Prime Minister’s Questions on 2nd July, she faced intense scrutiny after her government reversed key welfare reforms, leaving a nearly £5 billion hole in their budget. Amid probing questions from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and lukewarm support from Prime Minister, Keir Starmer at the dispatch box, Rachel Reeves appeared visibly emotional and wiped away tears. She later said, ‘I’d had a tough day,’ to explain her crying.

Many media outlets predictably leapt on her tears as a sign of weakness. But I believe showing our humanity is never weakness.