Kwasi Kwarteng

Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in northern Surrey since May 2010. He was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2021 to 2022, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the brief government of Liz Truss between September and October 2022.

Kwasi Kwarteng (2021)

Quotes

• There is more to come – we have only been here for 19 days [...] I want to see, over the next year, people retain more of their money.
  • Interviewed on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (BBC Television, 25 September 2022), as cited in "'More to come': what taxes could Kwasi Kwarteng cut next?" The Telegraph (29 September 2022).

• Absolutely, 100%, I'm not going anywhere.
  • When asked if he would remain as chancellor in an interview (13 October 2022).

• The prime minister was ... very dynamic, very forceful. That’s a great strength.
• I think the prime minister was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast. But I think it was too quick. If you look at it, it was on the 23rd of September. We only got into the office on the 6th of September. And looking back I think a measured pace would have been much better.
• After the mini-budget we were going at breakneck speed and I said, you know, we should slow down, slow down. She said, "Well, I’ve only got two years" and I said, "You will have two months if you carry on like this". And that is, I’m afraid, what happened.
• [On Truss sacking him.] People will ask, "If you sacked the person who was doing what you wanted, why are you still there?"
  • Interviewed on First Edition on TalkTV, cited in "Kwasi Kwarteng: I warned Liz Truss over her radical reforms" The Times (10 November 2022)
  • The mini-budget delivered on 23 September 2022 ultimately led to the resignation of both Kwarteng and Truss. The next UK general election is due by January 2025.