Rachel Reeves has revealed the antique urinal is still in the Chancellor’s private bathroom nearly a month after she took the job.
Ms Reeves is the first woman ever to hold the centuries-old post, but modernising the toilet facilities has proved more difficult.
After the general election was called a picture emerged of the green-and-white tiled room with boxes of period products placed neatly above the sink.
Another showed the urinal placed behind a glass screen, with Ms Reeves suggesting she would get it taken out if she took charge of HMT.
However, the Edwardian hardware is seemingly protected as a part of the country’s heritage.
Rachel Reeves is the first woman ever to hold the centuries-old post of Chancellor, but modernising the toilet facilities has proved more difficult
Ms Reeves showed Emily Maitlis the Chancellor’s private facilities at the Treasury
Asked whether she had been successful on the News Agents podcast, Ms Reeves told Emily Maitlis and John Sopel: ‘I am the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer.
‘The post has existed for between 800 and 1,000 years, depending on who you listen to.
‘I was wondering, Emily, whether you would like to, on the way out, come and have a look at the chancellor’s toilet to see the urinal that still is in there.’
A shocked Sopel said ‘You’ve still got a urinal?’, while Maitlis laughed.
A Treasury insiders told the Financial Times during the campaign that there had ‘been a discussion about whether it’s appropriate to have a urinal in there and whether it should be removed’.
Quizzed afterwards on whether she was fine with the urinal remaining in the private bathroom, Ms Reeves told the Spectator magazine: ‘Not really.’
She added her approach was about ‘smashing glass ceilings and urinals’.
Previous Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was part of a long run of male holders of the post
