Kwasi Kwarteng out, Jeremy Hunt in: Meet the newly appointed UK finance minister

On Friday, October 14, 2022 there was a shake-up in a key role of the United Kingdom government under Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Chancellor of the Exchequer and close ally to the Prime Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after six weeks in office following fallouts from a mini-budget presented last month. The budget has since sparked financial turmoil in the markets and caused a revolt among UK Conservative Members of Parliament. Kwarteng was reported to have cut short his stay in the United States of America where he was attending the IMF/World Bank meetings and return to No. 10 Downing Street where he was officially informed of his sacking. In a statement released after his firing, the British-born Ghanaian admitted that even before taking up the job, he knew he could not tow the lines of those before him, thereby needing to adopt more drastic approaches. Shortly after Kwasi Kwarteng was fired, a new candidate was appointed in the person on Jeremy Hunt to serve as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. Hunt is a known figure in the UK Conservative Party and has previously served as health secretary and foreign secretary. He has on two occasions contested the Conservative party leadership slot where he lost both times. Ahead of Liz Truss’ selection to lead the party, Jeremy Hunt was a keen supporter of former chancellor Rishi Sunak over Liz Truss. The rather popular figure however almost came close in 2019 in the leadership race with Boris Johnson named as the winner and Jeremy finished second. Jeremy Hunt is coming to the position as UK Chancellor of Exchequer at a time when the country is facing high inflationary pressures, tumbling currency, rising cost of living and among others. About Jeremy Hunt According to the BBC, Jeremy Hunt is a 55-year-old Conservative Member of the UK parliament. Prior to his political life, he grew up in Surrey town of Godalming in the United Kingdom. He attended Charterhouse School, where he was the head boy who was widely known for his love of cross-country running. He later attended the prestigious Oxford University where some say his political career began. Hunt during his journey in the University served as president of the Conservative Association. Prior to being elected to parliament in 2005, Jeremy had a career as an English teacher in Japan and as an entrepreneur where he co-founded the Hotcourses education publisher. In 2017, the Hotcourses was sold to an investor which earned Hunt a reported net profit of £14 million, making him one of the richest politicians in the UK. From 2005 to 2007, Jeremy Hunt became the shadow minister for persons with disability. This was somewhat his reward for supporting former UK prime minister, David Cameron. In 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was formed where Jeremy Hunt served in cabinet as secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport. He also played a pivotal role in the 2012 London Olympics. However, in politics, there is never a trade-off without scandal as calls grew in 2012 for Jeremy Hunt to resign over his alleged involvement in the BSkyB takeover bid. It was alleged that Hunt had close contacts with the media empire of controversial mogul Rupert Murdoch but he survived the saga and was appointed health secretary in 2012. His tenure as the health secretary came at a time when the NHS was facing financial turmoil and challenges. MA/KPE Watch the latest episode of BizTech below:

On Friday, October 14, 2022 there was a shake-up in a key role of the United Kingdom government under Prime Minister, Liz Truss. Chancellor of the Exchequer and close ally to the Prime Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after six weeks in office following fallouts from a mini-budget presented last month. The budget has since sparked financial turmoil in the markets and caused a revolt among UK Conservative Members of Parliament. Kwarteng was reported to have cut short his stay in the United States of America where he was attending the IMF/World Bank meetings and return to No. 10 Downing Street where he was officially informed of his sacking. In a statement released after his firing, the British-born Ghanaian admitted that even before taking up the job, he knew he could not tow the lines of those before him, thereby needing to adopt more drastic approaches. Shortly after Kwasi Kwarteng was fired, a new candidate was appointed in the person on Jeremy Hunt to serve as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. Hunt is a known figure in the UK Conservative Party and has previously served as health secretary and foreign secretary. He has on two occasions contested the Conservative party leadership slot where he lost both times. Ahead of Liz Truss’ selection to lead the party, Jeremy Hunt was a keen supporter of former chancellor Rishi Sunak over Liz Truss. The rather popular figure however almost came close in 2019 in the leadership race with Boris Johnson named as the winner and Jeremy finished second. Jeremy Hunt is coming to the position as UK Chancellor of Exchequer at a time when the country is facing high inflationary pressures, tumbling currency, rising cost of living and among others. About Jeremy Hunt According to the BBC, Jeremy Hunt is a 55-year-old Conservative Member of the UK parliament. Prior to his political life, he grew up in Surrey town of Godalming in the United Kingdom. He attended Charterhouse School, where he was the head boy who was widely known for his love of cross-country running. He later attended the prestigious Oxford University where some say his political career began. Hunt during his journey in the University served as president of the Conservative Association. Prior to being elected to parliament in 2005, Jeremy had a career as an English teacher in Japan and as an entrepreneur where he co-founded the Hotcourses education publisher. In 2017, the Hotcourses was sold to an investor which earned Hunt a reported net profit of £14 million, making him one of the richest politicians in the UK. From 2005 to 2007, Jeremy Hunt became the shadow minister for persons with disability. This was somewhat his reward for supporting former UK prime minister, David Cameron. In 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was formed where Jeremy Hunt served in cabinet as secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport. He also played a pivotal role in the 2012 London Olympics. However, in politics, there is never a trade-off without scandal as calls grew in 2012 for Jeremy Hunt to resign over his alleged involvement in the BSkyB takeover bid. It was alleged that Hunt had close contacts with the media empire of controversial mogul Rupert Murdoch but he survived the saga and was appointed health secretary in 2012. His tenure as the health secretary came at a time when the NHS was facing financial turmoil and challenges. MA/KPE Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: