Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has reaffirmed his backing of Liz Truss to become the next Prime Minister.
Having introduced the Foreign Secretary when she made her leadership bid, the senior cabinet figure told how nothing had changed with his choice now in the final two. The vote now goes out from Westminster to party members, with around 160,000 to poll.
Speaking to Business Live as he helped launch the build of a £150 million magnet metals plant in Hull while releasing a first ever critical minerals strategy, he said: “I am backing Liz Truss, she has fresh ideas, a lot of experience and impetus. I don’t think we can tax our way to growth.
“We have a 70-year high in terms of tax take, that’s not something sustainable, and that’s something Boris Johnson was looking at. That’s something Liz will deliver.”
According to The Mirror , Mr Sunak, who until the successful bid to remove Mr Johnson from office in the first of a wave of resignations was Chancellor, will not cut taxes before autumn next year.
Ms Truss has pledged an emergency budget to reverse the national insurance rise, scrap the planned corporation tax increase and suspend the green levies on energy bills – with analysis putting the cost at £30 billion a year.
Mr Kwarteng has been touted as a potential next chancellor, having served in BEIS for three years, first as Energy Minister then as Secretary for State. He succeeded Alok Sharma when he took on the COP26 presidency ahead of the UK hosting of the United Nations’ climate change conference last October.
“I’m not seeking any job whatsoever,” he said, stating it was way too early.
“I love being Business Secretary, I love what we do, meeting fabulous businesses. This is still a contest, we don’t know who the next Prime Minister will be.
“Rishi Sunak is a strong contender, Liz is very good, and she’s my favoured leader.”
Mr Kwarteng co-authored the book Britannia Unchained, Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity, with Ms Truss, as well as fellow cabinet members Priti Patel, Dominic Raab and former Science Minister Chris Skidmore.
Of the party’s position as a whole, Mr Kwarteng, who represents the London borough of Waltham Forest and was first elected in 2010, said: “The party can recover very strongly, we are two years from a general election, and we’ll have a new Prime Minister in six weeks.”
A nationwide tour is anticipated ahead of the ballot closing on Friday, September 2, with the winner announced on Monday, September 5, taking the keys to 10 Downing Street.
