Reeves interview: ‘I’ve campaigned in seats with Tory majorities close to 20,000’

Rachel Reeves has said it is “really exciting” seeing the areas Labour is now “competitive” at this general election, revealing that she has been campaigning in seats that on paper should be ultra-safe for the Conservatives.

In an exclusive recent interview with LabourList, the Shadow Chancellor said she has been visiting seats with Conservative majorities of “close to 20,000”, including Cannock Chase, Kettering and the key target seat of Aldershot.

Reeves was speaking while campaigning in Scotland including in East Renfrewshire, and told LabourList: “It’s been really exciting the sorts of places where Labour is now competitive and in with a chance because of the change that Keir and, in the case of Scotland, also Anas Sarwar have made to our party.”

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But Reeves echoed the party line on avoiding complacency about the result when asked what Labour’s first few days in office might look like, saying: “We’re not there yet. We’ve got to get across the line, and I think the thing that worries me in the last nine days is this belief that perhaps it’s already a done deal.

“And it really isn’t. The scale of the number of seats that we need to win just to get a majority of one is a massive mountain to climb after the election defeat in 2019.”

Asked what superpower she would most like to have, the Shadow Chancellor said: “A superpower to win elections, because I’ve fought four elections in Leeds West and although we’ve won all of those elections in Leeds West, it hasn’t been good enough.

READ MORE: YouGov final MRP: Pollster ‘absolutely confident’ Labour is set to win

“And I haven’t been able to deliver the change that I want to make for the people that I represent in Leeds West and for people around the country.”

The Labour frontbencher added: “So a Labour superpower of winning would be good, because since our creation, we have only on three occasions gone from opposition into a majority Labour government.

“And I’m determined that we make this the fourth time and that we get power and that we stay in power to be able to deliver the change that I’m desperate to see.”

Read more of our 2024 general election coverage:

North East Somerset and Hanham: Can Labour mayor Dan Norris consign Jacob Rees-Mogg to history?

Finchley and Golders Green: Can Labour win back Britain’s most Jewish seat?

Small boats and Tory mutineers: Can veteran Mike Tapp win Dover and Deal?

East Thanet: Inside the battle for coastal ex-UKIP stronghold not won since 2005

Sheffield Hallam: ‘Can Labour’s Olivia Blake hold on in Nick Clegg’s old seat?’

Battle of the bar charts in Wimbledon: Inside a rare election three-horse race

Could Labour take ‘non-battleground’ Tory seats across the South West?

Meet NHS doctor Zubir Ahmed, fighting one of Scotland’s tightest marginals

Brighton Pavilion: As Starmer visits, can Labour win the Greens’ one seat?

Labour wants a new generation of new towns. Can it win in Milton Keynes?

Meet Gordon McKee, the 29-year-old son of a welder vying for Glasgow South

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