Try GOLD - Free
Keironomics marks start of Whitehall reshaping of state
The Observer
|September 07, 2025
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was the still point of the turning world in cabinet but, around her, economic and social policy is shifting.
The recent appointment of Minouche Shafik, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, as the prime minister’s economics adviser, and the promotion of Torsten Bell, the former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, to lead the budget preparations are a sign of an emerging “Keironomics” that could lead to a gradual reshaping of the state.
Both Shafik and Bell have called for a significant rebalancing to put a greater focus on intergenerational fairness and better align taxes on income and assets. The influence of the Resolution Foundation, a think-tank that focuses on low earners, is increasingly clear across Whitehall.
Dan Tomlinson, now a Treasury minister, Vidhya Alakeson, Starmer’s deputy chief of staff, and Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, all worked for it before joining the government.
This story is from the September 07, 2025 edition of The Observer.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Observer
The Observer
Battle to become the global leader in defence tech gets heated
In a world riven by conflict, Germany's Helsing and US-based Anduril are piling on value as order books bulge.
4 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
The lion
We lions are philosophers. We get a lot of time for thinking; it’s in our nature.
2 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
How Syria's stolen children were used to break the hearts and minds of their parents
A campaign of child abduction carried out in collusion with a western charity was used by the Assad regime as a weapon of war against the families that opposed him.
13 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Britain can become one of the world's top tech economies - if it takes the risks
It's time to change the subject. A programme of mass deportations and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights is not going to deliver either growth or prosperity.
9 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Misinformation and myth: the UK's phoney war over human rights
The debate over the future of the European Convention on Human Rights will shape conference season and beyond, writes political editor Rachel Sylvester
6 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Assassination of Charlie Kirk strips Maga of the man who brought the youth vote to Trump
The first family mourns the White House insider whose extremist views reflected the Republican party's major shift to the right
5 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Mandelson saga and Epstein links cast shadow over Trump's UK trip
When Donald Trump touches down on UK soil in Air Force One on Tuesday, a two-day period of peril for the US president and British prime minister Keir Starmer will begin.
3 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
The UN must get back in the ring and fight Mark Malloch-Brown
A recent Reuters headline noted: “UN report finds United Nations reports are not widely read”.
5 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Prepare for revolution now, Elon Musk tells London rally as police come under attack
US tech billionaire calls for downfall of Labour government in speech to 110,000 marchers at Robinson's Unite the Kingdom protest
4 mins
September 14, 2025
The Observer
Big pharma's cash pull-out lands blow on UK economy
Slowly, then all at once. That's how the government's “vision” for life sciences came to the brink of disaster in the space of a week.
1 min
September 14, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size