New chancellor will be ‘chief executive’ in Government, says ally

An ally of new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said that he will be a “chief executive” inside Liz Truss’s ailing Government.

Steve Brine, a Tory MP who worked with the former health secretary, suggested that he would be the “chief executive” to Ms Truss’s “chairman” as she seeks to steady her administration after a brutal day for the Prime Minister.

Mr Brine called his friend “calm personified” and said the Conservative Party now needs to unite.

Mr Brine said: “At the end of the day, everybody – detractor or otherwise – should want this Government to succeed.

“And I know about Jeremy that he won’t be licking his lips at the prospect of becoming Chancellor at this time. But this is a moment to be there for the country, and in my experience it’s always been country first, and he will see that as his job right now.”

After weeks of turmoil on the financial markets triggered by Kwasi Kwarteng’s £43 billion mini-budget tax giveaway, Ms Truss earlier acknowledged that “the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change”.

The sacking of Mr Kwarteng, a friend and ideological soulmate, came as Ms Truss was forced into dropping her commitment to axe the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.

Mr Brine predicted that Mr Hunt would play a key role now in stabilising the Government.

“You should see Liz Truss as the chairman and Jeremy Hunt as the chief executive.

“And I think he’ll be a very effective chief executive and like a new football manager coming in, at the end of the day the supporters are happy when the team is winning.”

He also did not deny that the promotion for the two-time leadership contender could bring him a step closer to becoming prime minister himself.

Mr Brine said: “I’m a great fan of crossing bridges when you come to them. And Jeremy will be 100% focused on being Chancellor.

“I think he has quite enough to do but he obviously has made no secret of the fact that he wanted the top job when he stood against Boris Johnson and this time, which didn’t quite work out for him.

“But I mean, he’ll be focused on the job and I think he’s got enough on his plate this weekend.”