Friday sees a new chancellor doing what chancellors most like to do — delivering a statement that has a massive impact on the nation’s finances. For Kwasi Kwarteng, the new incumbent this will be a “fiscal event” — albeit with all the significance of a Budget. For Rishi Sunak, it will be a melancholy moment, not least because one of Kwarteng’s first acts will be to reverse a National Insurance rise that Sunak instituted in his last Budget.
Sunak has been remarkably quiet since the laurels in the Tory contest went to Liz Truss. The Queen’s death eclipsed the soul-searching that would have followed a result that was closer than the Truss camp hoped — 57 per cent to 43â per cent. It left Sunakites, gathering in the corridors of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre after the vote was announced, mulling a consolation prize. “It’s around six points lower than they expected and it didn’t get her across the psychologically vital 60 per cent mark,” says one member of the 1922 Committee.
