The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has resigned after the watchdog’s forecasts were published in error hours ahead of last week’s Budget.
Richard Hughes said he took full responsibility for the “technical but serious error” which revealed the contents of the chancellor’s speech before she delivered it.
In a letter sent to Rachel Reeves and the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Hughes says he is stepping down as he wants to ensure the OBR gets the chance to “quickly move on from this regrettable incident”.
He added it will now be able to “regain and restore the confidence and esteem that it has earned through 15 years of rigorous, independent, economic analysis”.
Hughes said he felt he needed to “play my part” in helping the OBR move on.
“I have, therefore, decided it is in the best interest of the OBR for me to resign as its chair and take full responsibility to the shortcomings identified in the report,” he wrote.
His resignation follows publication of a report that described the leak as “the worst failure in the 15-year history of the OBR”.
Hughes first took up the job in October 2020.
His five-year term was set to end in October this year, but in May, chancellor Rachel nominated him for a second five-year-term.
Hughes was previously director of fiscal policy at the Treasury and prior to that, division chief of the International Monetary Fund’s fiscal affairs department.
Following his resignation, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) accusing Reeves of “trying to use the chair of the OBR as her human shield”.
“Why is it ALWAYS someone else’s fault with Starmer and Reeves?” she added.
