Struggling taxpayers shell out £3,000 for a portrait of Chancellor Rachel Reeves preparing her Budget

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 13:33, 21 April 2026 | Updated: 13:40, 21 April 2026 Struggling Brits have paid £3,000 for a painting of Rachel Reeves preparing to hammer them with tax rises. A portrait of the Chancellor finalising her first Budget has been acquired for the Parliamentary Art Collection. The work by Sally Ward was unveiled with little fanfare at the end of last month after a competition run by the Society of Women Artists. The oil painting shows Ms Reeves in her 11 Downing Street study, talking to aides about her financial plans.  Ms Reeves - the first female to take charge of the Treasury - said it was a 'fitting tribute to all that women have achieved'. But critics said spending public money on the painting showed a 'total lack of self-awareness' as Brits face the prospect of a record tax burden and the fallout from the Middle East crisis. Commons sources have disclosed that the winning artist was awarded an 'acquisition prize' of £3,000, which came from the budget of the cross-party Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art. A portrait of the Chancellor finalising her first Budget has been acquired for the Parliamentary Art Collection Critics said spending public money on the painting showed a 'total lack of self-awareness' as Brits face the prospect of a record tax burden and the fallout from the Middle East crisis TaxPayer's Alliance campaigns director William Yarwood said: 'Taxpayers will be framing this as a total lack of self-awareness from the chancellor. '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. 'Instead of commissioning oil paintings, the chancellor should be focusing on lowering Britain's crushing tax burden.' As the painting was unveiled, Ms Reeves said: 'When I stood at the dispatch 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. 'I am deeply honoured that Sally Ward's portrait will join the Parliamentary Art Collection as a permanent record of that history.  '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.' Tory MP Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Speaker's Advisory Committee, said: 'Images of notable Parliamentarians and holders of important offices of state form one of the core strengths of the public's Parliamentary Art Collection, this important work from Sally Ward captures a moment in British political and parliamentary history, that celebrates how far women have come in politics.' Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Since becoming Chancellor in July 2024, the OBR watchdog's historical database shows Ms Reeves has imposed an astonishing £75billion a year of extra tax on Britons. Much of that has gone on spiralling welfare costs, with Labour MPs forcing the government to abandon efforts to curb spending and scrap the two-child benefits cap. The staggering tally makes her the biggest tax-raising Chancellor in the last six decades, far ahead of her nearest competitor for the dubious distinction. That was fellow Labour politician Gordon Brown, whose fiscal statements added up to an extra £62.1billion. Figures released alongside the Spring Statement in March showed the tax burden is on track to reach never-before seen mark of 38.5 per cent of GDP in 2030-31  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.