He made a whirlwind stint at the Treasury. British Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng has been removed from office in the midst of an economic and political crisis, he announced in a letter posted on Twitter on Friday October 14, confirming information from several British media. Late morning, Kwasi Kwarteng visited Prime Minister Liz Truss, to Downing Street, after returning earlier than expected from Washington where he was attending the annual meetings of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank.
“You asked me to resign as chancellor” of the chessboard, “I accepted”he wrote in this letter to the head of government. Kwasi Kwarteng is replaced by Jeremy Hunt, Downing Street announced on Friday afternoon. The 55-year-old former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Health was a candidate this summer to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, before joining Rishi Sunak against Liz Truss.
— Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) October 14, 2022
He said he was still convinced on Thursday that he would remain at his post. This 47-year-old ultra-liberal is paying the price for a “growth plan” massive and badly financed which caused panic on the markets. He arrived at the ministry in early September with the daunting task of pulling the UK out of a severe cost of living crisis without plunging public finances. Huge pressure on the shoulders of this apostle of the market economy.
His budget plan, made up of tax cuts and energy aid, caused the pound sterling to plunge to a historic level at the end of September and caused the British government’s borrowing rates to soar. The markets had recovered somewhat after successive interventions by the Bank of England, but remained very nervous.
Kwasi Kwarteng is, however, a long-time friend of Liz Truss. Both are neighbors in Greenwich, south-east London. Above all, they share the same vision of the economy. The former Minister of Finance had co-signed in 2012, with other conservatives, including Liz Truss, the book Britannia Unchained. In particular, the book promotes a State with a reduced perimeter and qualifies British workers as “worst lazy people in the world”.
In the hot seat after only 38 days in power and this hasty resignation, Liz Truss will hold a press conference on Friday afternoon.