Rachel Reeves cried during PMQs on Wednesday as Sir Keir Starmer stopped short of confirming her job security, but she’s not the only politician to shed a tear in the public eye. Kemi Badenoch launched a savage attack, saying she “looks absolutely miserable”, while the Prime Minister refused to guarantee that she would keep her position in the Government.
A spokesperson for Ms Reeves said her demeanour was related to a “personal issue”. The Chancellor joins a long list of names from Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. While some were moved by deaths of their loved ones, others were reduced to tears over personal questioning by interviewers.
Despite her nickname ‘the Iron Lady’, Margaret Thatcher was moved to tears when she left Downing Street for the last time in 1990 after 11 years as prime minister.
In June 1991, she also had to wipe away tears as she recounted the day she was forced to resign.
She said with a trembling voice: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re leaving Downing Street for the last time”.
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John Bercow delivered an emotional speech announcing his resignation from his position as Speaker of the House of Commons in 2019.
He said serving had been the “greatest privilege and honour of my professional life”.
It was later claimed, moments before announcing his resignation, that the Speaker dabbed his hand in his water glass.
In footage from the Commons, he appeared to dip his fingers in the water before flicking a splash of its contents into his eyes.
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The former prime minister cried during a TV interview after being asked about his baby daughter’s death just 10 days after her premature birth.
Piers Morgan asked the typically unemotional PM about Jennifer, who tragically passed in 2002.
Brown’s spokesman said, “It’s fair to say there were tears in his eyes”, but added that it would be an exaggeration to say he broke down.
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