Rachel Reeves has just spent her first Christmas Day as Chancellor after a turbulent six months piloting the country’s economy.

Within days of Labour sweeping to power at the general election in May, Ms Reeves announced she was scrapping winter fuel payments for some 10 million pensioners to plug a disputed £22billion “black hole” in Britain’s finances.

The announcement meant pensioners who weren’t on Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits would lose the payments, which are worth up to £300.

It sparked a furore among some pensioners, opposition MPs and older people’s charities, with claims the Chancellor was taking money from some of the poorest people in the country.

In her maiden Budget as Britain’s first female chancellor, Ms Reeves went on to unveil a raft of plans which have angered farmers and spooked business.

Ms Reeves ended inheritance tax exemptions for farms worth more than £1million in a move that led to protests from farmers who claim the death tax could force them to sell off land.

The Chancellor’s plan to hike National Insurance Contributions sparked criticism from numerous business leaders, who said they might have to raise prices or reduce staffing levels to mitigate higher costs.

And Ms Reeves’ decision not to compensate members of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group angered campaigners whom a slew of Labour MPs had supported when the party was in opposition, including the current occupant of No.11.

Ms Reeves has consistently maintained Labour inherited a “huge” economic mess from the last government and has criticised the Conservatives and media for not putting forward alternatives to fixing Britain’s economic problems.

On Monday, the Chancellor said the challenge to fix the economy and “properly” fund the public finances “after 15 years of neglect” is “huge”. She said the Budget and Government’s plans would deliver “sustainable long-term growth” and put more money in people’s pockets.

But since entering Downing Street, the country’s problems have continued to mount, despite Labour’s pledge to turbo-charge the UK’s economic growth. Just this week, the Office for National Statistics published revised figures showing UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) showed no growth between July and September.

Those figures cover a period before Ms Reeves’ Budget on October 30. But the Bank of England this week warned Britain is on the brink of stagnation and slashed its growth forecast for the final three months of this year from 0.3% to zero percent.

One of Britain’s biggest business groups also warned this week that the economy is “headed for the worst of all worlds”. The Confederation of British Industry’s growth indicator survey, based on responses from 899 companies between November 25 and December 12, found expectations for growth are at their weakest since the aftermath of former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tenure in No 10.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has to date defended the Chancellor and stood by her decisions. But some Labour MPs have broken ranks and publicly criticised Ms Reeves’ axing of the winter fuel payment and refusal to compensate the WASPI women.

With some Labour MPs questioning Ms Reeves’ judgement, it may be just a matter of time before Sir Keir decides to sack her in a bid to rescue his faltering premiership.