Kwasi Kwarteng has become the new Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) for the United Kingdom as Liz Truss announced her new Cabinet hours after becoming prime minister on Tuesday.
A loyal Truss ally, the 47-year old politician, who served as secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy under the Johnson government, is the first Black finance minister to be appointed in Britain.
He has been a Conservative MP for Spelthorne since 2010, and in January 2021 became the first Black secretary of state.
Truss replaced Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister after beating former chancellor Rishi Sunak after months of campaigning for the top job in politics.
Kwasi Kwarteng’s economic ideology resonates deeply with fellow free marketeer Truss’s. He was favourite to be her chancellor as she won the race to become the UK’s next PM.
His appointment is the first return of an amicable relationship between a PM and chancellor since David Cameron and George Osbourne.
