Kwasi Kwarteng sacked as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Prime Minister Liz Truss

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Kwasi Kwarteng arrived at the back entrance of No. 10 Downing Street shortly after midday.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked, by Prime Minister, Liz Truss, it has been confirmed.

Mr. Kwarteng confirmed he had been sacked in a resignation letter he tweeted from his own personal Twitter account shortly after 1.00pm.

“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted,” said Mr. Kwarteng in the letter.

Mr. Kwarteng was summoned back to London from Washington a day early on Friday.

Kwasi Kwarteng.Kwasi Kwarteng.
Kwasi Kwarteng. | Getty Images

The decision to sack Mr. Kwarteng is the latest development following the now infamous mini-budget delivered by Mr. Kwarteng and with the support of Liz Truss two weeks ago.

Despite being sacked, Mr. Kwarteng appears to insist in his resignation letter that what he set out in his growth plan in September was still the right thing to do.

“As I have said in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option.

“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation - that must still change if this country is to succeed.”

Mr. Kwarteng has been replaced by former Health and Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the sacking of Mr. Kwarteng would not undo the rise in mortgage interest rates caused by his mini-budget announcement.

“Changing the Chancellor doesn’t undo the damage that’s been done,” she said.

“We don’t just need a change in Chancellor, we need a change in government.

“Only Labour offers the leadership and ideas Britain needs to secure the economy and get out of this mess.”

The value of the pound against the dollar plummeted between midday and 12.30pm as rumours emerged Mr. Kwarteng was about to be sacked.

However, it has recovered slightly since Mr. Kwarteng confirmed he had been asked to stand down.

Mr. Kwarteng is the second shortest serving Chancellor of the Exchequer since World War II - the shortest serving being Iain Maclead at 30 days who died in office in 1970.

Prime Minister Liz Truss is due to hold a press conference at 2.30pm.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1963
Register
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice