MP behind soaring interest rates is to quit Parliament
One of the MPs behind the disastrous mini-Budget - which directly led to soaring interest rates - is to stand down at the next General Election.
Kwasi Kwarteng was the Chancellor in the ill-fated Liz Truss government for just 38 days before being sacked. Truss herself left office a few days later.
The House of Commons Library records that borrowers who were on a two-year mortgage deal and remortgaged after the mini-Budget saw their rates soar from 1.69 per cent to an average of 5.17 per cent.
Kwarteng has been MP for Spelthorne since 2010 and leaves a Tory majority at the 2019 General Election of over 18,000.
Recently Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter, said of the mini-Budget, one year on: “Persistently high rates have piled continuous pressure on those with mortgages and have even forced some to sell up. A great number of people have had their plans to take the first step onto the property ladder or to move home scuppered, and those that have pushed ahead have been forced to stomach astronomically higher costs to do so.
“For those coming to the end of their mortgage deal and needing to remortgage this year, the past 12 months will have been nothing short of terrifying. The mortgage market became incredibly turbulent following the infamous mini-Budget, with lenders ripping products from the shelves increasing rates on both residential and buy to let mortgages rapidly, and with very little notice.”
