Szu Ping Chan
Telegraph
The Labour Party was caught on the back foot and ended up having to prematurely confirm the figure after details were published several days before they were due to be announced to Parliament.
Chan’s story included details of how the Chancellor was preparing to wave through a series of inflation-busting pay deals as well as how the headline figure could be managed down, such as by cancelling some projects.
Addressing MPs, the Chancellor had hoped to focus on the size of the black hole in public finances she claimed to have been left by the Tories. Yet by the time Reeves stood up, this narrative had already been exhausted and much of the focus was instead on Reeves’ decision to end the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners.
Chan’s story also struck a chord with readers, attracting more than 3500 comments. Many expressed doubts about Labour’s claim to have inherited the problem.
This story is typical of Chan’s reporting on the inner workings of the Treasury. Another example was her story on the Chancellor preparing to rewrite the national debt rules, a month before the change was officially announced.
Reeves’s plan to use Public Sector Net Financial Liabilities as a measure of government debt was technical. Yet Chan’s writing cut to the heart of the matter: such a change would allow Reeves to unlock up to £50bn of additional borrowing to fund investment. The change was subsequently adopted by the Chancellor for that very reason.
Both the above stories were co-bylines with other reporters at the Telegraph, led by Chan. This reflects her talent for using the newsroom to its full potential, utilising the wide network of contacts offered by the organisation to turn tips into stories. Chan also has a flair for writing that can translate complex, yet hugely important, topics into compelling narratives.
Britain is being pressured by a succession of abstract forces: a mental health crisis, an ageing population, near-record debt levels and high interest rates. Chan’s writing helps make these problems, and more, graspable.
In her essay on the gender attainment divide in schools, Chan unpacked the “silent crisis brewing among boys and men in our classrooms”. Boys are performing worse than girls in education, with concerns that this is fuelling Britain's worklessness crisis.
The topic hugely resonated with readers, attracting more than 2,000 comments on the Telegraph’s website. One highlights the value of Chan’s reporting to our audience: “I love this article and how it promotes support for boys and men. It's actually the reason I subscribed to the telegraph [sic]. I certainly feel undervalued in society and that it actually harbours animosity towards men like myself and boys. I hope they continue to bring such important things to the fore.”