Kwarteng Says Truss Asked Him To Step Down As U.K. Chancellor

The dramatic move comes as the prime minister prepares another humiliating reversal on the government’s economic strategy.

Kitty Donaldson

14 Oct 2022, 06:22 PM IST

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Kwasi Kwarteng, UK chancellor of the exchequer, speaks at a fringe event during the Conservative Party's annual autumn conference in Birmingham, UK, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. </p></div>

Kwasi Kwarteng, UK chancellor of the exchequer, speaks at a fringe event during the Conservative Party's annual autumn conference in Birmingham, UK, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

(Bloomberg) -- Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed Liz Truss asked him to leave his post as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, following weeks of market turmoil triggered by the massive package of unfunded tax cuts he announced last month.

The dramatic move comes as the prime minister prepares another humiliating reversal on the government’s economic strategy. Truss has already been forced into a U-turn on one of its headline measures: a plan to cut the top rate of income tax.

“It is important now as we move forward to emphasize your government’s commitment to fiscal discipline,” Kwarteng said in a letter to Truss posted on Twitter. “The medium-term fiscal plan is crucial to this end, and I look forward to supporting you and my successor to achieve that from the backbenches.”

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