Kwasi Kwarteng

Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British politician who served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from September to October 2022 under Liz Truss and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2021 to 2022 under Boris Johnson. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in Surrey from 2010 to 2024.

Kwarteng was born in London to Ghanaian immigrant parents and was educated at St Paul's Juniors, Eton College and the University of Cambridge where he was a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. He worked as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and as a financial analyst before standing for election to the House of Commons. As a backbencher, Kwarteng co-authored a number of papers and books, including After the Coalition (2011) and Britannia Unchained (2012). In November 2018, Kwarteng was appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state for Exiting the European Union by Theresa May. After May resigned in 2019, Kwarteng supported Boris Johnson's bid to become leader of the Conservative Party. Following Johnson's appointment as prime minister, he appointed Kwarteng as the minister of state for Business, Energy and Clean Growth. In January 2021, Kwarteng was promoted to the office of secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, a role he retained throughout the remainder of Johnson's premiership.