Who is Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK’s first Black chancellor?

Kwarteng finds himself in charge of an ailing UK economy beset by soaring inflation [File: Phil Noble/Reuters]

London, United Kingdom – In some ways, Kwasi Kwarteng’s elevation to the second-most important job in British politics couldn’t be more novel. In others, it couldn’t be more typical.

Born in London in 1975 to Ghanaian parents who had emigrated to the United Kingdom as students in the 1960s, Kwarteng has broken new ground in becoming the first Black person to hold the role of chancellor of the Exchequer.