Rachel Reeves has been rated the least successful of the past five chancellors in a poll of British adults, with 26% of respondents choosing her.
Kwasi Kwarteng was second in the ranking, selected by 22%, while 7% named Rishi Sunak as the least successful.
Reeves attracted the highest levels of criticism among Reform voters, with 51% choosing her, followed by 40% of Conservative supporters and 43% of people aged over 65.
Kwarteng, whose brief tenure at the Treasury included the disastrous 2022 mini-Budget, which helped bring down Liz Truss after just 45 days in office as Prime Minister, was named the least successful by 36% of Labour voters and 32% of Liberal Democrat supporters. He was also selected by 32% of those who voted Remain in the EU referendum, 29% of people aged 50 to 64 and 26% of men.
SUNAK LEADS MOST SUCCESSFUL RANKING
When respondents were asked to identify the most successful of the five chancellors, Sunak came first with 26% of the vote.
Jeremy Hunt and Reeves were in joint second place, each chosen by 8% of respondents.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “The 2022 mini-Budget achieved Hall of Infamy status almost as soon as Kwasi Kwarteng retook his seat, as the bond market tanked and the pound plunged.
“He was out of a job within a month and most of the measures he announced were reversed, and yet he has been voted only the second least successful chancellor of the past five – after Rachel Reeves.
“A vote like this will always have some recency bias. In addition, holding the post for longer meant more time for bad news to build for Reeves. John Healey has already been in the job for longer than Kwasi Kwarteng and Nadhim Zahawi.
“However, there were steps Reeves took which backfired too, which Healey could learn from if he wants history to be kinder to him.
“Meanwhile Rishi Sunak was a long way out in front of all the other chancellors when it came to being voted the most successful, and was particularly popular with older people and Conservative and Reform voters.”
