Lucy Rigby took up her role as City minister for the second time on 21 July 2026, reappointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury under Andy Burnham after just nine weeks as Chief Secretary. The Square Mile’s fifth City minister in two years arrives with an overflowing in-tray: a listing drought, a fintech pipeline yet to deliver and persistent fears of a fresh tax on banks.
Rigby’s first stint ran from 6 September 2025 to 14 May 2026, when she was moved up to Chief Secretary. Her return was confirmed in the GOV.UK appointments notice of 14 May 2026, which simultaneously named Rachel Blake as her interim successor in the Economic Secretary role.
What Lucy Rigby’s City Minister Comeback Must Tackle
The most pressing task is London’s listings market. During her eight-month absence from the City brief, the capital’s equity markets absorbed no fewer than 11 billion-pound takeover bids from private buyers, according to City AM. The IPO pipeline has dried up further.
Georgina Hamilton, fund manager at Polar Capital, said Labour have so far ‘not managed to arrest the decline in market capitalisation.’ She told City AM: ‘She’s got to find a way to address the valuation discount in the UK which perpetuates across every sector.’
Rigby championed the UK Listing Relief, a formal exemption from the 0.5% Stamp Duty Reserve Tax charge on transfers of shares in companies newly listed on a UK regulated market. The relief, in effect from 27 November 2025, applies for a three-year window from a company’s listing date.
The measure has limits, however. As the European Tax Blog’s analysis of the relief notes, it does not touch the separate 1.5% SDRT charge frequently cited by practitioners as a more significant obstacle in the listing process. Industry groups have called for full abolition of stamp duty on shares, arguing the levy pushes both investors and companies toward New York.
Rigby also controls UK personal savings policy, which places ISA reform in her hands. Calls have intensified for a reduction in the tax-free limit on cash ISAs to shift retail money toward stocks and shares accounts.
Listings, Fintechs and the Banking Tax Shadow
Lucy Rigby as City minister built early goodwill with fintech firms, with one industry figure telling City AM she is among the few in government who ‘gets it.’ The sector wants that momentum converted into results.
The London Stock Exchange’s Private Securities Market received its PISCES Approval Notice from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 26 August 2025, making it the first operator authorised under the sandbox framework. The FCA notice (PAN 25001) authorised the LSE to run intermittent liquidity auctions for private companies using its public markets infrastructure. Britain’s breakout fintech IPO, however, has not materialised.
Investment bankers have told City AM that Rigby needs to ‘push hard to drive the policy changes required’ to get businesses to scale up and stay in the UK. Those in the sector have repeated calls for tax incentives and better access to capital.
Overhanging all of this is the threat of a fresh levy on banks. Chatter about a banking sector tax has unsettled executives in Canary Wharf throughout this parliament and shows no sign of fading under the new administration.
Emma Watts, head of corporate development at Cavendish, put the industry view plainly: ‘We would like to see…clear, tangible policy action, supported by greater consistency and long term certainty.’
Rigby’s average tenure in the role the first time around mirrored the historical norm of roughly eight months, a brevity that stalled regulatory reform and left financial services firms uncertain about the direction of government policy. Whether Burnham gives her longer is the question the City will be watching most closely of all.
