𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

One of Rachel Reeves’s top aides is set to quit after the spring statement. The Chancellor is understood to have reached a mutual agreement with her political secretary, Matt Pound, that it will be the right time for him to leave Government following next week’s fiscal update.

He marks the latest in an exodus of figures with longstanding connections to the embattled Prime Minister, who has faced criticism over his “boys club” in government. Mr Pound worked on Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign in 2020 before becoming his head of political organisation while in opposition and Labour’s political director for elections in the run-up to the 2024 ballot. He has been one of Ms Reeves’s top advisers since the general election.

Mr Pound said he would be “forever grateful” for working with the Chancellor to “rebuild our economy after 14 years of Conservative chaos”.

He said: “We have come a long way to turn the Labour Party around from electoral oblivion in 2019 to a historic general election victory just five years later, and it is a privilege to have been part of that.

“To Rachel and my excellent colleagues over the years, I will continue to support you as you strive to deliver the change the country needs.”

Ms Reeves said Mr Pound had played a “pivotal” role in transforming the party and securing Labour’s election victory, as well as a “key part in helping fix the foundations of the economy and deliver the change we were elected to do”.

She added: “I am incredibly grateful for his hard work, loyalty and expertise, and wish him all the very best in what comes next.”

Mr Pound’s exit follows the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications director Tim Allan both quitting amid the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.