It is increasingly looking as if the government will hold a mini emergency budget later this week probably on Friday 23rd September before the parliamentary recess. This will be there first for the Liz Truss government and the first for the new Chancellor.
What is the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the government’s chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling public spending. He has overall responsibility for the work of the Treasury.
The Chancellor’s responsibilities cover:
- fiscal policy (including the presenting of the annual Budget)
- monetary policy, setting inflation targets
- ministerial arrangements (in his role as Second Lord of the Treasury)
- overall responsibility for the Treasury’s response to COVID-19
So who is Kwasi Kwarteng
He was Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6th September 2022 by the new prime minister Liz Truss. Previously Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy taking post on 8th January 2021 until being appointed Chancellor.
Kwasi was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union from 16th November 2018 to 24th July 2019.
Kwasi was elected the Conservative MP for Spelthorne in 2010. From 2010 until 2013 he was a member of the Transport Select Committee, and in 2013 he joined the Work and Pensions Select Committee where he was a member until 2015. Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Kwasi worked as an analyst in financial services.
In 2015 Kwasi was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords, and in 2017 he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In October 2016 Kwasi joined the Public Accounts Committee, where he was a member until May 2017.
Personal life
Kwasi read classics and history at Trinity College, Cambridge, and then attended Harvard University on a Kennedy Scholarship. He earned a PhD in economic history from the University of Cambridge in 2000.
His passions include history, music and languages. He has lived in and around London for most of his life. He has authored several books, including Ghosts of Empire, War and Gold and Thatcher’s Trial.
PAYadvice.UK 16/9/2022
