The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy under Boris Johnson, Kwasi Kwarteng has been appointed as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer by Prime Minister, Ms. Liz Truss.
His role is to be in charge of the nation’s finances as soaring energy prices cause pain for households and business.
The new UK government is expected to announce package costing billions to cap typical energy bills at around 2, 500 pounds, with full details expected on Thursday.
Kwarteng, who attended Harvard University in the United States on a Kennedy scholarship, returning to Cambridge University to complete a PhD in economic history in 2000, was the first black Tory cabinet minister.
The 47-year-old is a member of the Conservative Party and has been a Member of Parliament for Spelthorne in northern Surrey since 2010.
He worked as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and a financial analyst at banks in the City of London, including JPMorgan, and got involved in Conservative politics as chairman of the Bow Group think tank.
He has remarked that “politics was always something I was drawn to”, and he made his first attempt to become an MP in 2005. He stood as the Conservative candidate for Brent East at the general election but came third.
There was also an unsuccessful run for the London Assembly in 2008. However, he became part of the “class of 2010”, a cohort of politicians entering Westminster for the first time that year.
He was elected as MP for Spelthorne in Surrey and entered Parliament the same time as future colleagues Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Sajid Javid.
Although Kwarteng was tipped to become the Conservatives’ first black cabinet member as early as 2006, he spent eight years as a constituency MP before he became a minister.
