Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to stand down as MP at next election
Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will stand down at the next election.
Mr Kwarteng delivered the disastrous mini-budget, and was later sacked by then prime minister Liz Truss and replaced with Jeremy Hunt in a bid to reassure markets.
The Truss administration collapsed shortly after.
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Mr Kwarteng is the MP for Spelthorne in Surrey, and holds it with a majority of 18,393.
Writing on social media, Mr Kwarteng said: “Yesterday I informed my association chair of my decision not to stand at the next general election.
“It has been an honour to serve the residents of Spelthorne since 2010, and I shall continue to do so for the remainder of my time in parliament.”
According to a Sky News tally, he is the 55th Conservative MP to say he will not stand at the next election.
The announcement came shortly before Ms Truss launched her new “Popular Conservatives” movement.
Mr Kwarteng has worked for various Conservative governments since 2015, including as a Brexit minister, a business minister, before being promoted to the cabinet as business secretary by Boris Johnson in January 2021.
A close ally of Ms Truss, he was a vocal supporter of her campaign to become leader of the Tory Party and the country, and she appointed him chancellor on 6 September 2022.
He was sacked on 14 October 2022 – 38 days later.
Read more: What was in the mini-budget and what was scrapped
Mr Kwarteng and Ms Truss were close political allies. Pic: Reuters
On 23 September 2022, Mr Kwarteng delivered the mini-budget – the economic plan promised by Ms Truss which her supporters claimed would grow the economy.
It followed the announcement of a plan to cap energy prices for a typical household to £2,500 amid surging costs.
What followed was market and political chaos, worries that pension firms would collapse, and ultimately the defenestration of the UK’s second shortest-lasting chancellor. Only Iain MacLeod, who died 30 days after taking the role in 1970, has spent less time in charge of the country’s finances.
Eventually, the Bank of England intervened to prop up markets.
The energy cap – which has since been estimated to have cost £21bn – and the mini-budget did not have the impact the Truss team thought they would. She had promised “supply-side reform” that would boost growth in her campaigns.
Rishi Sunak, who lost in a vote with Tory members to Ms Truss, repeatedly criticised her plans as not being financially sound.
One issue that spooked the markets was the lack of an official forecast for the mini-budget – usually carried out by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
This, alongside measures like the scrapping of the top rate of income tax and holding corporation tax at 19%, led to uncertainty about the UK economy and how money would be raised in the future.
Mr Kwarteng was forced to U-turn on the income tax pledged in the middle of that year’s Conservative Party conference.
He then attended an International Monetary Fund summit in the US – before cutting the trip short to return to the UK.
As he was travelling to Downing Street, Mr Kwarteng learned he was being sacked on social media from a post by a journalist.
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Oct 2022: Kwarteng U-turns on income tax
Ms Truss later confirmed another U-turn, saying corporation tax would rise as originally planned to 25%.
Since these events, Mr Kwarteng has admitted that not involving the OBR in his planning was “probably a mistake”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
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