Ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng feels ‘let down’ by Liz Truss – as he reveals they have not spoken since his sacking

Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has revealed how he feels “let down” by Liz Truss as he accused her of “total capitulation” following her failed agenda.

Mr Kwarteng, who was sacked 38 days into Ms Truss‘s short-lived tenure as prime minister, additionally revealed the pair had not spoken since she dramatically sacked him following his mini-budget final September, which despatched the pound tumbling and unleashed chaos within the markets.

Ms Truss resigned days later, changing into the shortest-serving prime minister in British historical past.

Mr Kwarteng and Ms Truss had been longstanding allies earlier than she sacked him following criticism of the tax-cutting measures within the mini-budget, changing him with the incumbent chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who unpicked her agenda to revive religion within the markets.

As properly as each occupying No 10 and No 11 Downing Street, Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng are nonetheless thought to stay in Greenwich, south London, in close by streets. The pair struck up their friendship after getting into parliament collectively in 2010.

In an interview with POLITICO, the previous chancellor mentioned his “issue” with Ms Truss was that “having been bold on the entry… for me, it was a total capitulation at the end.”

“And, I think, I felt let down, frankly.”

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The former cupboard minister, who represents Spelthorne, additionally described what number of senior politicians really feel a way of “numbness” and “emptiness” after leaving excessive workplace.

“These people, political people, but I think particularly people who get to the top, they’re kind of adrenaline junkies,” he instructed the Westminster Insider podcast.

“They enjoy the challenge. It’s like watching or being involved in a kind of action movie yourself. Not to trivialize it, but, you know, you’re right at the center of events, you’ve got a lot of authority. You get to decide things.”

He went on to explain a “kind of emptiness” for some who depart prime authorities roles.

“You just get these empty, this feeling of kind of emptiness,” he mentioned.

“You’ve got to remember that for a lot of people who are right at the top, they’ve been thinking about this for decades.

“They’ve been on this highway, on this journey. And then when you’re out, it is over. And so there is a sort of feeling of vacancy. I’ve seen it and you’ll see it on their faces typically. They’re simply utterly bewildered.”

When asked if he felt the same way, Mr Kwarteng said he “actually loved” serving at the top despite it being “very nerve-racking as properly”.

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But he added: “I’ve all the time tried to be a bit extra balanced.”

Mr Kwarteng’s intervention comes simply days after the anniversary of when Ms Truss first took workplace.

In earlier interviews, the previous chancellor has expressed remorse on the method the pair took in the direction of their financial agenda, telling the FT Weekend journal final December that they “blew it” and got “carried away” with bringing in sweeping economic reforms.

The Tory MP said the low-tax, small-state plans they had were “very thrilling” and he was fully behind them but accepted that the way they were executed led to their downfall.

In some of her speeches since leaving Number 10, the former prime minister defended her tax-cutting agenda and suggested it would have worked out in the long term.

At the launch of her Growth Commission in July – a new organisation she set up to bring together economists focused on the issue of low growth – she suggested the UK’s sluggish growth had “obtained worse” following her exit.

The former prime minister was overheard at the event saying it hadn’t “dramatically gone away” with her exit from Downing Street, but “obtained worse and worse”.

When asked if her fiscal plans had been the right one, she replied: “It’s an extended recreation.”