Kwasi Kwarteng Biography

Kwasi Kwarteng is a British politician. He is a  member of the Conservative Party and he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in northern Surrey since 2010. He has been serving as Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy since 2021. On 16th November 2018, he was appointed Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, following the resignation of Suella Braverman. Following the election of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister in July 2019, he was promoted to Minister of State for Business, Energy, and Clean Growth, attending Cabinet as part of the role. He is also an author of the books; “War and Gold: A Five-Hundred-Year History of Empires, Adventures and Debt”, “Thatcher’s Trial: Six Months That Defined a Leader”, “Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World”, “After the Coalition”, “Gridlock Nation”, “Britannia Unchained: Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity”. 

What is Kwasi Kwarteng Famous For?

• Being a British politician. 
• For serving as Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy since 2021. 

Who are Kwasi Kwarteng Parents?

Kwasi Kwarteng was born on 26th May 1975 in Waltham Forest, London, England. His birth name is Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng. He holds British nationality and he belongs to Mixed ethnicity. His present age is 47 as of 2022. He was born as the only child to his parents; Alfred K. Kwarteng and Charlotte Boaitey-Kwarteng who had emigrated from Ghana as students in the 1960s. His mother is a barrister and his father is an economist in the Commonwealth Secretariat. About his education, he started school at a state primary school. He attended Colet Court, an independent preparatory school in London, where he won the Harrow History Prize in 1988. He then went to Eton College, where he was a King’s Scholar and was awarded the prestigious Newcastle Scholarship prize. He read classics and history at Trinity College, Cambridge, achieving a first in both subjects and twice winning the Browne Medal. He was a member of the team which won the University Challenge in 1995 (in the first series after the program was revived by the BBC in 1994). While at Cambridge, he was a member of the University Pitt Club and has since returned to visit. He also attended Harvard University on a Kennedy Scholarship and then earned a Ph.D. in economic history from the University of Cambridge in 2000. 

Kwasi Kwarteng Career Timeline

• Initially, Kwasi Kwarteng was selected as the Conservative candidate for Spelthorne at an open primary in January 2010. 
• He won the seat with 22,261 votes (numerically more votes but a lower percentage of the vote than his predecessor). 
• He irritated Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in 2013 by criticizing the Help to Buy housing scheme as inflationary.
• In 2014, his book War and Gold: A Five-Hundred-Year History of Empires, Adventures, and Debt was published which was followed by Thatcher’s Trial: Six Months That Defined a Leader. His other book include Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World, After the Coalition, Gridlock Nation, and Britannia Unchained: Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity.
• He was re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased majority.
• He also backed the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in the 2016 referendum.
• Following the 2017 general election, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond. 
• He replaced Suella Braverman as a minister in the Department for Exiting the EU on 16th November 2018. 
• He was a vocal supporter of Boris Johnson in the 2016 and 2019 Conservative Party leadership elections.

Everything To Know About Boris Johnson

• He was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 25th July 2019. 
• In September 2019, he was criticized by former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell for stating on The Andrew Neil Show: “I’m not saying this, but, many people are saying that the judges are biased” after the Court of Session ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was illegal. He added: “The extent to which lawyers and judges are interfering in politics is something that concerns many people.”
• On 8th January 2021, as part of a mini-reshuffle, he replaced Alok Sharma as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. 
• He became the second black man to serve in the Cabinet, the first being Paul Boateng, who served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the first black Conservative. 
• He also became the first black man to run a government department by being appointed to the level of Secretary of State. 
• In May 2021, he opened a new electric car battery plant in Oxfordshire. 
• In January 2022, while on a trip to Saudi Arabia, he accepted flights and hospitality from Saudi Aramco, the majority state-owned energy firm. Kwarteng visited Saudi Arabia on 29 January. 
• Later, he was earmarked by Boris Johnson to be dismissed as Business Secretary during a planned cabinet reshuffle in June 2022, something that left him “very upset”.
• During the 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, Kwarteng and Liz Truss were said to have drawn up a pact to make him Chancellor of the Exchequer if she becomes prime minister. 
• On 15th November 2021, he published a letter of apology to Stone, in which he said he “did not mean to express doubt about your ability to discharge your role” and apologized for “any upset or distress my choice of words may have caused”. On 30th August 2022, this section was removed from Kwarteng’s Wikipedia entry, with it being revealed that an IP address from the House of Commons had removed it. 

Who is Kwasi Kwarteng married to?

Kwasi Kwarteng is married to his beautiful wife, Harriet Edwards in December 2019. Harriet works as a lawyer. Their daughter was born on 15 October 2021. The couple is enjoying their present life a lot without any disturbances. His sexual orientation is straight. 

Previously, he was in a relationship with former Conservative Home Secretary Amber Rudd. 

How much is Kwasi Kwarteng Net Worth?

Kwasi Kwarteng is one of the wealthiest and most well-liked politicians. As of 2022, the net worth of Kwasi is estimated to have $1.5 million. His main source of wealth comes from his political career and he is making his salary in thousands of dollars. He is living a cool lifestyle at present. In January 2022, he purchased a house in Greenwich. 

How tall is Kwasi Kwarteng?

Kwasi Kwarteng is a handsome man with an average body build. He stands at the perfect height matching his body weight. His hair color is black and his eye color is brown. He also wears a spectacle that suits him well. He has a charming smile with glowing face.