A short month and then goes away. Kwasi Kwarteng left the British government on Friday October 14, just thirty-eight days after his appointment as finance minister. “He becomes the second-shortest Chancellor of the Exchequer, second only to Iain Macleod, who died of a heart attack after just 30 days in office in 1970.” notice The Times. “All in all, he’s not doing so badlyslips Patrick Maguire, satirical journalist for the conservative daily. Unlike Iain Macleod, he didn’t start with his feet first”.
Expected for a few days, the decision taken by Liz Truss “nevertheless brutal”, highlighted The Spectator. “He was loyal, ready to follow the Prime Minister and did not seek to build his own political clientele”, hails the conservative magazine.
Only, the head of government needed a fuse, after six nightmarish first weeks in Downing Street. And the choice naturally fell on his closest political ally, a supporter of a weak state, recalled from a visit