Rachel Reeves braced herself for becoming unpopular with the public as she unveiled her much dreaded budget, containing £40 billion worth of tax hikes.

However, body language guru Judi James has now unveiled exactly what the Chancellor of the Exchequer may really have been thinking as she shared the “tough choices” that lay ahead. Judi spoke of how she shook off her initial nerves to channel former PM Margaret Thatcher while “under attack” and even addressed opposition to her announcements with a hint of a “sneer”.

Explaining what seemed to be happening behind the exterior, she began: “Chancellors have historically used their budget speeches to show off their skills as comedians or entertainers as they drop their adopted masks of dour fiscal concern to take a rare turn in the spotlight and showboat accordingly. Not Rachel Reeves though, who played her time at the mic relatively straight, perhaps aware as Starmer had so patronisingly warned us that little girls across the land would be watching her and thinking ‘Wow, I can do that!'”

She added: “Ironically, and possibly down to some kind of primal subliminal urge, Reeves was channeling her inner Margaret Thatcher in her choice of both her outfit and her delivery. The pussy cat bow and navy suit combo was almost Iron Lady cos-play and her rather high-pitched delivery that dropped into a commanding shout when under attack was pure Thatcher at her Boudica best.”

Judi continued that there were “visible signs of nerves” at the start of her budget, seeing her falter over some of her words while “sliding” over others. She explained: “Her voice began as a high-pitched, breathless monotone and she went off at a gallop as though keen to get back to her seat.

Rachel Reeves let her nerves get to her initially (Image: GETTY)

“Reeves read word for word, clutching her script with both hands or even following the lines with a finger at others,” she noted.

“However she gradually grew in confidence, looking self-satisfied as she got to the minimum wage and adopting full warrior mode as she recited ‘A promise made is a promise fulfilled’ about her fiscal changes or lack of them.”

Judi concluded that the Chancellor displays “all the hallmarks of a tea-bag politician” due to her capacity to “get stronger when in hot water”,

One example of this trait in action was when “a small riot from the entire House over Insurance payments for employers” led to Reeves launching into “battle mode”.

Rachel Reeves has shared new financial policies (Image: GETTY)

Judi observed that she’d “splayed her shoulders as her smile turned into a sneer” and indicated in just “a few deft signals” that she would “not be budged in terms of her decisions”.