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  "path": "/politics/labour-rachel-reeves-portrait-taxpayers",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-22T09:43:25.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Labour officials charged after criminal investigation into alleged vote-rigging",
    "Keir Starmer's support CRUMBLING just weeks before local elections as PM branded 'dead man walking'",
    "UK inflation rises to 3.3% as Iran war takes toll on British economy",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA £3,000 oil painting depicting Chancellor Rachel Reeves working on her inaugural Budget has been purchased for the Parliamentary Art Collection using public funds.\n\nThe artwork, created by Sally Ward, was quietly revealed at the end of last month following a competition organised by the Society of Women Artists.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe portrait captures Ms Reeves inside her 11 Downing Street study, consulting with advisers on her financial plans.\n\nCommons sources confirmed the artist received the sum as an \"acquisition prize\" from the cross-party Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art budget.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe painting celebrates Ms Reeves' achievement as the first woman to hold the Chancellor position.\n\nThe TaxPayers' Alliance has condemned the expenditure as tone-deaf, given the financial pressures facing British households.\n\nWilliam Yarwood, the organisation's campaigns director, said: \"Taxpayers will be framing this as a total lack of self-awareness from the chancellor.\n\n\"While Reeves tells households to tighten their belts and hike taxes even further, she seems perfectly happy for the public to pick up the tab for her own vanity projects.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"Instead of commissioning oil paintings, the chancellor should be focusing on lowering Britain's crushing tax burden.\"\n\nCritics argued that allocating public money to the portrait demonstrated poor judgement as Britons confront a record tax burden and the ongoing Middle East crisis fallout.\n\nHowever, Ms Reeves defended the portrait as a celebration of female achievement in British politics.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Labour officials charged after criminal investigation into alleged vote-rigging\n  * Keir Starmer's support CRUMBLING just weeks before local elections as PM branded 'dead man walking'\n  * UK inflation rises to 3.3% as Iran war takes toll on British economy\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSpeaking at the unveiling, she said: \"When I stood at the despatch box to deliver the first Budget by a female Chancellor, I was acutely aware of the generations of women who had fought to make that moment possible.\n\n\"I am deeply honoured that Sally Ward's portrait will join the Parliamentary Art Collection as a permanent record of that history.\n\n\"I hope this portrait serves as a reminder to every young woman and girl across the country that there should be no ceiling on their ambition.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe Chancellor has previously overhauled Treasury artwork, replacing a portrait of Nigel Lawson with an image of \"Red Ellen\" Wilkinson, a former Labour minister under Clement Attlee.\n\nSince taking office in July 2024, Ms Reeves has introduced approximately £75billion annually in additional taxation, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility's historical records.\n\nThis figure positions her as the most significant tax-raising Chancellor over the past sixty years, substantially exceeding Gordon Brown, whose measures totalled £62.1billion.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMuch of the additional revenue has been directed towards rising welfare expenditure, with Labour backbenchers pressuring ministers to abandon spending restraints and remove the two-child benefit cap.\n\nSpring Statement projections from March indicated the overall tax burden will climb to an unprecedented 38.5 per cent of GDP by 2030-31.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Taxpayers fund £3,000 portrait of Rachel Reeves as Labour accused of 'total lack of self-awareness'"
}