Rachel Reeves sparks backlash over plans to switch No 11 work | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Rachel Reeves has been accused of attempting to “distract” from winter gasoline fee cuts after asserting plans to switch No 11 work with artwork of or by ladies.

The Chancellor revealed the transfer to switch each portray within the state room at 11 Downing Street at a reception for feminine enterprise leaders this night.

She stated she wished to mark the lives of the “amazing women who have gone before us”.

Ms Reeves, the primary feminine chancellor, stated: “This is King James behind me, but next week the artwork in this room is going to change.

“Every picture in this room is either going to be of a woman or by a woman – and we’re also going to have a statue in this room of Millicent Fawcett, who did so much for the rights of women.”

But a Conservative Party spokesman stated: “Pathetic gesture politics from a Chancellor out of her depth trying to distract from snatching winter fuel payments from 10million pensioners.

“I’m positive the 5.2million aged ladies who’re dealing with a alternative between heating and consuming this Christmas can be very impressed.”

Most paintings around the large room currently feature men, including King James II.

The Chancellor is also said to be planning to take the same approach to choosing artwork to hang in her study in No 11.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer sparked a row after it emerged he removed a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from his private study in No 10.

The Prime Minister claimed the reason for the move was because he did not like the idea of people staring down at him while he worked and that he preferred landscapes.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “This shouldn’t be truly about Margaret Thatcher in any respect.

“I don’t like images and pictures of people staring down at me. I’ve found it all my life.

“When I used to be a lawyer I used to have photos of judges. I do not prefer it. I like landscapes.”