By Paul Kelso, business and economics correspondent
When Gordon Brown delivered his first Mansion House speech as chancellor, he caused a stir by doing so in a lounge suit, rather than the white tie and tails demanded by convention.
Some 27 years later, Rachel Reeves is the first chancellor who would have not drawn a second glance had they addressed the City establishment in a dress.
Bucking convention
As the first woman in the 800-year history of her office, Ms Reeves’s tenure will be littered with reminders of her significance, but few as symbolic as at a dinner that is a fixture of the financial calendar.
Her host at Mansion House, asset manager Alastair King, is the 694th man out of 696 Lord Mayors of London.
The other guest speaker, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, leads an institution that is yet to be entrusted to a woman.
Reeves’s speech indicated she wants to lean away from convention in policy as well as in person.
By committing to tilting financial regulation in favour of growth rather than risk-aversion, she is going against the grain of the post-financial crash environment.
“This sector is the crown jewel in our economy,” she told the audience, including many who will have been central players in the 2007-08 collapse.
Sending a message that they will be less tightly-bound in future is not natural territory for a Labour chancellor.
Her motivation may be more practical than political. A tax-and-spend budget that hit…
