Kwasi Kwarteng may have cut a large figure, but he proved to be the proverbial bull in a china shop as Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was repeatedly wrong, but never in doubt. His central conceit was that trust — whether from his party, the public or markets — could be assumed rather than earned. Sacking him may be Liz Truss’s first smart move as prime minister.
But although Kwarteng has now been replaced by Jeremy Hunt, Truss isn’t out of trouble herself. No prime minister and chancellor duo in recent memory was more aligned on policy and ideology — or perhaps closer personally. In losing Kwarteng, Truss has effectively had to abandon her whole governing project.
Not that the prime minister is admitting as much. Truss clearly comes from the “never apologize, never explain” school of leadership. But that works only if the mistakes are small and the power held is substantial, or if the leader is both liked and broadly trusted. Truss has lost the support of the vast majority of her parliamentary colleagues, has the lowest public approval ratings on record and has trashed her government’s credibility with the markets. Her only hope now is to show that she understands her errors and has plans to fix them.
