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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Peter Walker Political correspondent

Kwasi Kwarteng was logical choice as chancellor but hubris was his downfall

Kwasi Kwarteng’s short stint as chancellor included a pedestrian Tory conference speech (pictured)
Kwarteng’s short stint as chancellor included a pedestrian Tory conference speech earlier this month. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

When Kwasi Kwarteng became chancellor on 6 September it seemed a logical career progression. Deemed a politician imbued with economic doctrine, even his critics conceded he was determined and intellectually imposing. Five weeks and three days later, he is gone.

The newly restored backbench MP for Spelthorne in Surrey is not the shortest-serving chancellor of modern times, but only because the holder of that unwelcome title, Iain Macleod, died from a heart attack a month into his tenure in 1970.

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