Jeremy Hunt is the new British finance minister. The information was confirmed by the Downing Street office on Friday, and Hunt will be the fourth to hold the post since the beginning of the year, succeeding Kwasi Kwarteng.
According to the office of Prime Minister Liz Truss, Edward Argar will replace Chris Philp as Secretary of State for Finance, who has been transferred to Secretary of State in the Cabinet.
Hunt was foreign minister for a year under Theresa May and, before that, health and culture minister under David Cameron.
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP @Jeremy_Hunt has been appointed Minister of Finance @HMTreasury. pic.twitter.com/bldKWr3crG
– UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) October 14, 2022
The MP was the 2019 top runner-up defeated by Boris Johnson, and was defeated in the first round of this summer’s election, becoming one of the most prominent supporters of Rishi Sunak against Liz Truss.
Political commentators see Hunt’s appointment as a way for the Conservative leader to appease financial markets and the centrist wing of the party, which has been the source of much of the domestic criticism of the executive’s economic strategy in recent days.
Source: TSF
