Eleanor Claire Reeves, Baroness Cryer (born 11 December 1980), is a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who has served as Chair of the Labour Party and

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as the Member of Parliament for Lewisham West and East Dulwich, formerly Lewisham West and Penge, since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. She previously served as Shadow Solicitor General from April 2020 to December 2021 and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation from 2021 to 2023.

Early life and education

Eleanor Reeves was born on 11 December 1980 in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, the daughter of teachers Graham and Sally Reeves. Her older sister,

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

, is the Labour MP for Leeds West and Pudsey and the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

under Prime Minister

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

. Reeves grew up in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

and was educated at Adamsrill Primary School and Cator Park Secondary School. She then studied law at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree.

Political career

Official portrait of Ellie Reeves crop 2

Reeves joined the Labour Party at 15, chaired the

Oxford University Labour Club Oxford University Labour Club (OULC), was founded in 1919 to promote democratic socialism and is today the home of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and of social democracy at Oxford University. The club caters for any students who are intere ...

in 2001 and was National Chair of

Labour Students Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for L ...

from 2002 to 2003. In 2006, she was first elected as a constituency party representative on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), supported by

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

and

Labour First Labour First is a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party. It was originally founded in 1980 but refounded in 1988. Born out of the political right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it sees itself as ...

. Reeves was returned to the governing body in subsequent elections, and served as Vice-Chair from 2015 to 2016, until she was defeated by

Momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...

in 2016. She later served as vice-chair of the

London Labour Party London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parli ...

Parliamentary career

Reeves was selected as the Labour candidate for Lewisham West and Penge in April 2017, chosen over a left-wing

activist. At the snap 2017 general election, Reeves was elected to Parliament as MP for Lewisham West and Penge, with 66.6% of the vote and a majority of 23,162. Reeves was appointed to the opposition front bench as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kate Osamor, Shadow International Development Secretary, in March 2018. On 13 June 2018, Reeves and five other MPs resigned as frontbenchers to vote in favour of remaining in the

single market A single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of pr ...

, defying the party whip. After signing a letter criticising the decision to re-admit Chris Williamson into Labour, Reeves was threatened with deselection by a party member in July 2019. Following backlash, Party Leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

wrote that pregnant MPs would not face deselection and the member withdrew their plans to challenge her. At the 2019 general election, Reeves was re-elected as MP for Lewisham West and Penge with a decreased vote share of 61.2% and a decreased majority of 21,543. On 9 April 2020, Reeves was re-appointed to the opposition front bench as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales. She served as Labour's political lead for the 2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election, in which there was a 7.4% increase in the party's vote share and 10.2% swing from the Conservatives to Labour, however the Conservatives held the seat with a 20.6% majority. In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she joined the Shadow Cabinet as Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator. Due to the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, Reeves' constituency of Lewisham West and Penge was abolished, and replaced with Lewisham West and East Dulwich. At the 2024 general election, Reeves was elected to Parliament as MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich with 59.1% of the vote and a majority of 18,397. In July 2024, Reeves was appointed as Chair of the Labour Party and Minister without Portfolio with attendance at Cabinet. On 2 April 2025, Reeves was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

Personal life

Reeves is married to

John Cryer John Robert Cryer, Baron Cryer (born 11 April 1964), is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch from 1997 to 2005 and the MP for Leyton and Wanstead from 2010 to 202 ...

, who was a Labour MP from 1997 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2024. In the 2024 Dissolution Honours, John Cryer was created Baron Cryer, of Leyton in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, so, as the wife of a peer, Eleanor Reeves is a peeress and entitled to the title of Lady Cryer, but does not use it in public life.

References

Notes

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Ellie 1980 births Living people 21st-century British lawyers 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century English politicians 21st-century English women Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Cryer

Ellie Ellie or Elly is a given name. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Elizabeth, Eleanor, or Elvira. It can also be a short form of Elaine, Elena ...

Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Friends of Israel Labour lawyers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Lewisham Spouses of life peers UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom