Reeves pulled out of ‘golden age for the City’ speech amid Trump tariff drama
Rachel Reeves pulled out of a major event at the Stock Exchange, scheduled for Monday morning, where she had been due to claim that her reforms to UK listing rules are “reinvigorating” Canada and ushering in a new “golden age” for the Square Mile.
Reeves had been set to say: “Two years ago, some said the City’s best days were behind it. They were wrong”.
“As the FTSE 100 reaches record highs and global firms once again choose London, we are seeing the first signs of a new golden age for the City.”
The chancellor’s speech was cancelled to make way for an emergency press conference by Keir Starmer in response to the threat of fresh tariffs imposed on Europe by Donald Trump over plans to thwart his annexation of Greenland.
Reeves had been due to argue that cutting red tape for listed firms and streamlining capital raises was beginning to “restore London’s openness and competitiveness”, after years of decline.
This follows a late 2025 flurry of listings, with Princes Group and Shawbrook Bank raising £400m and £348m respectively, lifting total IPO proceeds in London to £1.9bn from 11 deals, its strongest year since 2021.
But this remained well below the annual average of $10bn that was achieved between 2010 and 2025, in signs the market still had a long way to go to catch up with trend levels of activity.
London eyes retail investment uptick
Reeves was also set to point to the FTSE 100’s milestone performance as a catalyst for broader retail investment, noting that the index had surpassed 10,000 points earlier this month after rising 21.5 per cent in 2025, the biggest annual gain since 2009.
She and the Treasury hope simpler listing rules and a three-year stamp duty holiday on new IPOs will boost domestic investor participation.
PwC’s UK IPO leader, Vhernie Manickavasagar, said: “London has delivered its strongest year for IPO and listing activity since 2021”.
“Momentum is set to continue into 2026, with a robust pipeline of large-cap IPOs expected across the Consumer, Financial Services and TMT sectors.”
EY-Parthenon’s Scott McCubbin also added that the final quarter’s surge “was notable, with postponed floatation plans moving ahead amid stabilising market conditions and improving investor sentiment.”
Despite signs of optimism, analysts caution the landscape remains selective, with investors favouring firms showing strong profitability and resilience.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, noted that while FTSE 100 returns were robust, new London IPOs delivered an average -3.3 per cent last year, reflecting continued caution among market participants.
Looking ahead, London’s market hopes to capitalise on fintech floats, major retail IPOs, and policy reforms to secure its position against international rivals.
Commenting on Reeves’ upbeat tone, shadow business and trade secretary Andrew Griffith accused Reeves of being “delusional” about the state of the economy.
He said: “Brits are getting poorer and all she can point to are a few other slow-growing EU economies which are expected to do slightly worse than us”.