Westminster rumbles with one big question – how long does Reeves have left?

We’ve been here before. A high-profile female Cabinet secretary has a question mark over her future after revelations about alleged rule-breaking.

Then-Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was dispatched quickly enough last year. Deputy PM Angela Rayner proved a tougher case before she resigned at the start of last month.

But Rachel Reeves is different. More than anyone else in the Cabinet, her future is tied to that of Prime Minister Keir Starmer – they’re a team, Keir and Rachel, with inextricable political goals.

So when the Daily Mail broke the story last night that the Chancellor had failed to get a legally required licence to rent out her family home in South London, it became a moment of real peril for the government.

That moment is not yet over.

This morning’s journalist briefing made that perfectly clear. Question after question was batted away by the government spokesman with reference to the exchange of letters between the PM and the Chancellor last night.

Those letters said Sir Keir had asked the government’s independent ethics adviser for next steps, and he had concluded Reeves’ apology and insistence it was an ‘inadvertent error’ was sufficient to let her stay in post.

Some of the most fundamental ones remain unanswered: Did Reeves break the ministerial code? How did the adviser reach a conclusion so quickly? Will she resign if she broke the law?

The opposition, unsurprisingly, smells blood – there are fewer than four weeks to go until the Budget, which is the culmination of months of work by Reeves and her team.

One Conservative source told Metro they believe she broke the law, adding: ‘If she is to get away with this, it’s because she’s the Chancellor’.

She would make it through the next couple of days, they predicted, but it was ’50/50′ over the next week.

If the initial shock isn’t enough to fell such a big name – a very rare occurrence in politics – the source added they had ‘a few little ideas’ for moving the story on.

For example, in the London borough of Southwark where Reeves has her rental property, tenants in a home that’s unlicensed can ask for up to 12 months of rent back from their landlord. Will that happen in this case?

A spokesperson for Southwark Council said: ‘When we become aware of an unlicensed property, we issue a warning letter advising the landlord that they have 21 days to apply for a licence – enforcement action such as fines are reserved for those who do not apply within that time or where a property is found to be in an unsafe condition.

‘We cannot comment on individual cases.’

With Rayner, it took several damaging stories and a report from Sir Laurie saying she broke the ministerial code before she stepped down.

However, the Labour side is bullish about Reeves’ future in this case.

Asked by Metro if Rachel Reeves is a rogue landlord, Housing Secretary Steve Reed said she was not.

In an appearance at an event marking the passage of the Renters’ Rights Act, he told us: ‘The Prime Minister has said it was an honest mistake. She’s owned up to it and is paying for the licence. Her tenants are still living there.’

And this afternoon, the PM’s official spokesperson said Sir Keir ‘has full confidence in the Chancellor’ after revealing ‘new information has come to light’ in a review of emails sent by Reeves’ husband Nicholas Joicey.

A Downing Street source, meanwhile, said they were ‘fairly confident’ no more damaging information would be coming out and were planning to ‘move forward’ towards the Budget on November 26.

In an indication of how the government aims to combat the stories, they emphasised that Reeves’ exoneration last night was ‘not just Keir’s word’, but based on the independent adviser’s conclusions – the same adviser who sank Rayner.

The simple fact of the story’s existence at this point in time is enough to make the PM despair. He’ll be hoping against hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.

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