Jeremy Hunt has been appointed chancellor after the prime minister sacked Kwasi Kwarteng.

Mr Hunt returns to the frontbenches after a few years off, after serving as foreign secretary under Theresa May and health secretary and culture secretary under David Cameron.

His appointment is a sign that Liz Truss is trying to get her opponents on side.

Mr Hunt was one of Rishi Sunak’s most prominent supporters during the Tory leadership campaign in the summer after he was knocked out of the running himself.

The MP for South West Surrey since 2005, Mr Hunt has been a backbencher since Boris Johnson took over from Mrs May in 2019.

He has been the chair of the Commons health and social care select committee since 2020.

Mr Kwarteng lost his job after just 38 days following a disasterous mini-budget announcement, which resulted in economic turmoil and subsequent U-turns.

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He firstly U-turned on getting rid of the 45p rate of income tax for higher earners and the government is set to U-turn on freezing corporation tax at 19% so it will rise to 25%.

In July, Mr Hunt told Sky News cutting corporation tax was “not sexy, but necessary” as he backed plans to reverse the planned rises.

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