Claim a911d3acChecked 21 Jul 2026
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“The actual Chancellor is not in her place.”
—Mrs Kemi BadenochConservativeCon / North West Essex·Engagements·03 Jun 2026Factual · historical current chronological
Reasoning & Evidence21 Jul 2026
The claim "The actual Chancellor is not in her place" refers to Chancellor Rachel Reeves not being present on the government front bench during this PMQs session on 3 June 2026. The Hansard record and TheyWorkForYou transcript confirm Badenoch made this statement, but neither transcript captures who was physically present on the front bench beyond those who spoke. The YouTube transcript shows Badenoch saying "She's not even here in her place," but the video footage itself (which would definitively show whether Reeves was seated beside Starmer) was not directly viewed. Without visual confirmation or an explicit parliamentary record noting Reeves's absence, the available text-based sources are insufficient to verify the claim about physical presence in the chamber.
Sources: Hansard (UK Parliament) - https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-06-03/debates/051DBB77-8D86-47FD-91B3-95DD68A17CC0/Engagements ; TheyWorkForYou - https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2026-06-03b.1157.3 ; YouTube (UK Parliament channel) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY5xo9bwsdM
From speech
We need to bring down the benefits bill. The Prime Minister complains about the shadow Chancellor. The bill went up because of the pandemic and even then Labour Members were asking us to spend more. It is not the shadow Chancellor who is the problem; it is the actual Chancellor. She is not even in her place. The reason there is no welfare Bill is the Prime Minister has given up, and he has given up because Labour Members have given up on him. On Sunday, the Welfare Secretary was asked 12 times on national radio if he would make cuts to the benefits bill and 12 times he could not answer. So I will ask the Prime Minister: is he going to cut the benefits bill?
Sources opened
| [1] | independent.co.uk |
| [2] | bbc.co.uk |
| [3] | bbc.co.uk |
| [4] | standard.co.uk |
| [5] | spectator.com |
| [6] | westminsterbrief.co.uk |
| [7] | inview.org.uk |
| [8] | independent.co.uk |
| [9] | hansard.parliament.uk |
| [10] | youtube.com |
| [11] | westminsterbrief.co.uk |
| [12] | youtube.com |
| [13] | ynuk.tv |
| [14] | standard.co.uk |
| [15] | bbc.co.uk |
| [16] | bbc.co.uk |
| [17] | youtube.com |
| [18] | independent.co.uk |
| [19] | theyworkforyou.com |
| [20] | bbc.com |
| [21] | dailymail.com |