Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will step down at the next election
Kwasi Kwarteng, the former chancellor, has announced that he will leave parliament at the next general election.
Kwarteng, who represents the seat of Spelthorne in Surrey, said he told his constituency association yesterday that he would not be standing in the next contest.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, he said: “Yesterday I informed the chairman of the association of my decision not to stand at the next general election. It has been an honor to serve the people of Spelthorne since 2010 and I will continue to do so for the rest of my time in Parliament.”
Kwarteng was elected MP for Spelthorne in Surrey in 2010. In the last election, he had a majority of 18,393 votes.
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Kwarteng served as finance minister for 38 days from September to October 2022.
Yesterday I informed the chairman of the association of my decision not to stand for election in the next general election. It has been an honor to serve the people of Spelthorne since 2010 and I will continue to do so for the rest of my time in Parliament.
– Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) February 6, 2024
After turmoil in the financial markets in light of his mini-budget, Kwartenga was fired by Liz Truss. In doing so, he became the UK's second shortest serving chancellor.
Kwarteng was previously considered a longtime ally of Liz Truss. Truss and Kwarteng also lived on the same street in south London before the couple moved into their homes in Downing Street.
Kwarteng was previously in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy between 2021 and 2022. In this position, he became Britain's first black Conservative cabinet minister.
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He was previously Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth from 2019 to 2021, and Under Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2018 to 2019.
In 2012, Kwarteng co-authored the book Britain is liberated with other members of the Conservative Party including Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab.
He supported Leave in the 2016 EU referendum and backed Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election.
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