Top Musk lobbyist ‘considers entering British politics’ after quitting X

The British executive who rose to become Elon Musk’s chief lobbyist at X is to quit the company as he considers entering British politics.

Nick Pickles, X’s head of government affairs, said he was leaving on Friday after making the decision to step down several months ago.

He had been one of the few senior figures to survive Mr Musk’s takeover of Twitter and subsequent rebranding as X.

Mr Pickles, who stood against Yvette Cooper as a Conservative candidate in the 2010 election, is believed to be considering a return to politics.

Bruce Daisley, Twitter’s former European chief, said: “Nick is trying to play a long game. He wants to be a Tory MP and saw a big job in tech as a way to credential himself.

“He’s clearly hoping that we remember he quit after a point, rather than remembering he enabled Musk for two full years of toxicity.”

The Yorkshire-born executive had previously worked at the campaign group Big Brother Watch and as a music photographer.

He has been employed by Twitter since 2014, starting as a policy manager in the UK before moving to San Francisco in 2018. Mr Pickles was recently made X’s vice president of global affairs, a position equivalent to Sir Nick Clegg’s role at Meta.

He is believed to have become a close confidant of Linda Yaccarino, who Mr Musk appointed as chief executive last year.

In a tweet announcing his departure that did not mention Mr Musk, he wrote: “The constant across my time at Twitter and X has been the amazing people I’ve worked with inside and outside the company.

“It’s been a privilege to lead the @globalaffairs team and I leave with more memories and lifelong friendships than I ever expected when I first walked into the London office back in 2014.

“I made the decision to leave several months ago and I’m grateful to @lindayaX [Ms Yaccarino] for her support and partnership as we’ve worked through the transition.”

Mr Pickles had appeared in front of parliamentary and congressional committees several times before Mr Musk bought the company.

X was banned in Brazil last week amid a feud between Mr Musk and one of the country’s top judges over accusations of disinformation and extremism on the service.

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