Lettings agency takes blame for Reeves error

Keir Starmer appears to have escaped the huge political damage of losing his chancellor weeks before the budget, after 24 hours of intense scrutiny over whether Rachel Reeves had broken the law when she rented out her family home.

- Peter Walker Senior political correspondent

The Conservatives said Reeves must be sacked if she had committed an offence by not obtaining a council licence before letting her four-bedroom house in south London, and No 10 was initially unable to explain why Starmer believed an apology from the chancellor was sufficient.

But after a chaotic day, the lettings agency employed by Reeves said it was to blame for not applying for the licence, and apologised for the error.

Emails subsequently released by Downing Street between the agency and Nicholas Joicey, Reeves's husband, a senior civil servant, also supported this version of events.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, argued that this did not end the matter and called for Starmer to hold a full investigation. But with Southwark council saying it had no plans to take action against Reeves, her position seemed secure.

Her departure would have been devastating for Starmer, with the chancellor pulling together a 26 November budget seen as crucial to the government’s prospects. It would also have been the second big loss in recent months. Angela Rayner stood down in September as deputy prime minister and housing secretary over another property-related controversy, in her case the underpayment of stamp duty on a flat.