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After his financial plans generated significant backlash, the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked by Prime Minister Liz Truss after just 38 days in the job, reported the BBC on Oct. 14.

Kwarteng, a member of the Conservative Party, was first elected in 2010.

He supported Brexit and Boris Johnson's leadership bid, and was appointed Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, a Cabinet position, in 2021.

He was seen as a close ally of Truss, and was appointed her Chancellor (equivalent to Singapore's Finance Minister) when she won her leadership bid.

Backlash against mini-budget

The BBC's political editor Nick Eardley said Kwarteng saw his role as delivering Truss's own plans.

But it was Kwarteng who presented a controversial mini-budget in Parliament, featuring massive tax cuts and a freeze in energy prices, with the government planning to borrow money to pay for them instead of hiking taxes in other areas.

This led to a drop in confidence in the British economy, which saw the pound falling sharply against the dollar.

The Financial Times reported on Oct. 13 that Truss was under pressure from senior members of her own party to change some parts of the mini-budget, although she reportedly stuck to her plan for tax cuts.

Kwarteng's departure makes him the second shortest-serving Chancellor on modern record after Iain Macleod, who died of a heart attack in 1970 when he was just 30 days into the job.

Step up Hunt

The Guardian reported that Truss has appointed Jeremy Hunt as the new Chancellor.

Hunt previously served as Health Secretary under David Cameron and Foreign Secretary under Theresa May. As foreign secretary, he visited Singapore in 2019.

He challenged Boris Johnson for the leadership but lost, and was not given a Cabinet position after Johnson took power.

According to The Guardian, this may be a sign that the embattled Truss is reaching out to other factions in the Conservative party.

Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats party, has called for a general election in response to the news of Kwarteng's sacking, according to the BBC.

Top image by Leon Neal / Getty Images.