Macleod to Kwarteng: The two Conservative Chancellors who spent less than 40 days in office

The sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday, October 14, makes him one of the shortest-serving chancellors who lasted only 38 days in office after his appointment. Kwarteng’s dismissal was fueled by some decisions he announced during the presentation of the UK mini-budget which resulted in some financial turbulence and revolt from Tory MPs. Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister at a press conference announced a reverse to some key policies and also scrapped the planned raise in corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent. She then announced that Jeremy Hunt will become Kwasi Kwarteng’s successor. Kwasi Kwarteng, 47, took over as head of the British Treasury in September 2022, after Prime Minister, Liz Truss, took over. He had the responsibility of trying to pull the UK out of a serious cost-of-living crisis without plunging the public finances into the abyss. He took over from Nadhim Zahawi, an Iraqi-born Kurd, who himself succeeded Rishi Sunak, of Indian origin, and Sajid Javid, with Pakistani roots, embodying a more inclusive face of the Conservative party. His sack makes him the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record. He lasted eight days longer than Iain Macleod, also a Conservative, who died just 30 days into the job. Who was Iain MacLeod? Iain Macleod was a British Conservative politician and government minister. He entered Parliament as an MP in 1950. MacLeod as health minister and minister for Labour, before overseeing the independence of African countries from British rule as secretary of state for the colonies under Harold Macmillan in the early 60s. He refused to serve in the government of Harold Macmillan’s successor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, instead joining The Spectator as editor. Mr Macleod returned to government after being appointed chancellor by Edward Heath on 20 June 1970 following an unexpected Conservative election victory. He served for a total of 30 days as Chancellor. Despite being in pain, he made his sole major speech on the economy as chancellor five days later, lamenting high levels of inflation and unemployment. Mr Macleod was rushed to the hospital later the same day with a pelvic diverticulum, a condition affecting the digestive system. He was discharged 11 days later, on 20 July, only to suffer a heart attack inside 11 Downing Street, where he died at 11.35 pm. PEN