(Alliance News) - Kwasi Kwarteng has paid the price for the chaos unleashed by his mini-budget as he flew back to London to be dramatically sacked as chancellor by UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Kwarteng cut short his attendance at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington to be told of his fate in a brief meeting with Truss.
In a letter to Truss posted on social media, Kwarteng said: "You have asked me to stand aside as your chancellor. I have accepted."
He said her "vision of optimism, growth and change was right" and pledged to support her from the backbenches.
Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is being lined up as Kwarteng's replacement, it has been reported.
If confirmed, it is likely to signal a major shift in policy direction.
A more centrist figure, Hunt is unlikely to share Kwarteng and Truss's ideological free market commitment to tax cuts.
By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor
source: PA
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