UK OBR head quits after early release of Rachel Reeves’ budget

Richard Hughes has resigned as chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility after the UK’s fiscal watchdog mistakenly published Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget almost an hour before it was delivered in Parliament — a breach described as the most serious failure in the OBR’s 15-year history.

The announcement of his departure on Monday followed the release of an oversight board investigation, which found that the same systemic weaknesses had allowed early access to the Spring Statement in March.

Hughes, who has served as chair since 2020, said he was stepping down to allow the OBR “to quickly move on from this regrettable incident.”

In a letter addressed to Reeves and the House of Commons Treasury select committee, Hughes said:

Leak triggered sharp moves in bond markets

The OBR typically publishes its economic and fiscal outlook only after the chancellor presents the Budget in the House of Commons, given the market-sensitive nature of its forecasts and fiscal assessments.

However, the watchdog’s nearly 200-page report was uploaded prematurely last week, prompting immediate swings in gilt yields as investors digested the unexpected disclosure.

Monday’s review confirmed that the OBR had routinely uploaded its documents early to ensure “immediate and widespread access” once publication time arrived, but had wrongly assumed that its WordPress-based website was configured to block any pre-release viewing.

In reality, the files were accessible to the public before the approved embargo.

The oversight board said the premature disclosure of Reeves’ Budget constituted the “worst failure in the 15-year history of the OBR,” and placed “ultimate responsibility” on the organisation’s leadership.

Speaking before Hughes announced his resignation, Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray called the findings “very serious indeed,” though he emphasised that both the government and the Treasury select committee would take time to respond fully.

Resignation follows tense dispute with Reeves

Hughes’ exit also comes amid a growing public disagreement with Reeves over the state of the UK’s public finances ahead of the Budget.

Reeves argued that deteriorating productivity forecasts from the OBR had materially weakened the fiscal outlook, implying that tax increases might be necessary.

But on Friday, Hughes wrote to MPs stating that the official forecasts were “much rosier” than the chancellor had portrayed during the run-up to her Budget — a rare public challenge to a sitting chancellor’s narrative.

His departure now leaves the OBR without its senior-most figure at a time when the regulator’s independence, forecasting credibility and operational reliability are under intense scrutiny.

A successor has yet to be announced, and the government is expected to face questions about how it intends to strengthen oversight and prevent further breaches ahead of future Budgets.