Jeremy Hunt named new Chancellor after Liz Truss fires Kwasi Kwarteng

JEREMY Hunt has today been named Britain’s new Chancellor after Liz Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng.

The former foreign and health secretary was confirmed as the top Treasury Minister by Downing Street this afternoon.

Ed Argar has been promoted to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury after Chris Philp was also sacked.

He will take on the role of Paymaster General in the Cabinet Office.

Mr Hunt was understood to have been abroad in recent days but flew back ahead of the government reshuffle to be appointed.

The new Chancellor lost out to Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership race in a head-to-head run-off voted on by Tory members.

He also stood for the contest this year but was knocked out in the early stages when he only picked up with 18 votes.

He vowed that he would be the only candidate who could win back the voters’ trust as he had “stayed out of the Boris bubble” and not tainted by the Partygate saga.

Mr Hunt was Health Secretary for six years between 2012 and 2018 under both the leadership of David Cameron and Theresa May.

He then became chair of the Health Select Committee before he took up the new role in government.

Mr Kwarteng was sacked by Ms Truss this afternoon following the market meltdown unleashed by his mini budget.

In a letter to the PM confirming his departure, the fired Chancellor said: “You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted.”

The PM made her close pal the government’s fall guy for the economic chaos as she looks to reset her battered premiership just weeks into the job.

On a dramatic day:

• The PM will face the nation at a press conference this afternoon
• Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt became Chancellor
• Mr Kwarteng’s Treasury No2 Chris Philp was moved to the Cabinet Office
• The money markets rallied as the Chancellor was sacked

Mr Kwarteng this morning arrived back in London after cutting short his trip to Washington for crisis talks in Downing St with Ms Truss.

But he was instead hauled in to No10 to be fired, later confirming he had been ditched in a letter “wishing Ms Truss well”.

Sticking by his tax-cutting vision, he said: “As I have said many times in the past few weeks, following the status quo was not an option.

“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must change if this country is to succeed.”

Ms Truss replied that her old ally had “put the national interest first”.

Embattled Ms Truss will hold a solo press conference this afternoon where she is expected to u-turn on parts of her tax-cutting mini-Budget.