Kwasi Kwarteng sacked as Chancellor amid reports of further mini-budget U-turns

The Tory MP was axed from No 11 Downing Street hours after he returned to London early from a visit to the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington.

A British Airways passenger plane thought to be carrying Mr Kwarteng on a flight from Washington DC was reportedly the most-tracked on Flightradar24 before it landed shortly before 11am.

His departure means the UK is now awaiting its fourth Chancellor this year; Rishi Sunak quit in July in a move that helped lead to Boris Johnson's resignation as Prime Minister, while Nadhim Zahawi - appointed by Mr Johnson after Mr Sunak's departure - lasted two months before being appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by Liz Truss in September.

In his letter to Prime Minister Liz Truss, Mr Kwarteng said he accepted her request for him to "stand aside" as Chancellor.

"When you asked me to serve as your Chancellor, I did so in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredible difficult, with rising global interest rates and energy prices. However, your vision of optimism, growth and change was right," he wrote.

"As I have said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option. For too long this country has been dogged by low growth and high taxation - that must still change if this country is to succeed."

Mr Kwarteng continued to say the economic environment has "change rapidly" since the mini-budget on September 23, but he - along with the Bank of England and officials at the Treasury - have responded to those events, adding that the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan is 'crucial to the government's fiscal discipline'.

Ms Truss - who is looking to shore up her battered authority after weeks of turmoil following last months 'fiscal event' - will stage a press conference in Downing Street later on Friday in which she is expected to announce major changes to her former Chancellor's £43 billion tax giveaway.

His departure will raise fresh questions about her chances of survival – because she was closely linked to the policies that caused the problems.

The commitments to reverse a hike in national insurance rates and ditch a planned rise in corporation tax, without explaining how they would be paid for, were the key planks of her leadership election campaign.

But after the financial markets took fright – with the pound plummeting against the dollar and the cost of government borrowing soaring – the Conservatives have seen their opinion poll ratings tank.

On Thursday Mr Kwarteng said he was "not going anywhere", despite the market turbulence he admitted was caused in part by his policies which included plans to scrap the 45p top tax rate and keep corporation tax at 19 per cent instead of increasing it to 25 per cent.

Earlier today trade minister Greg Hands brushed off suggestions Ms Truss could be forced to sacrifice Mr Kwarteng to save her job, insisting his position was “totally safe”.

“I know the Prime Minister has got total confidence in Kwasi Kwarteng,” he told Sky News, calling the Chancellor “an incredibly capable person, a very, very bright person who makes good judgment calls”.

Mr Hands, who backed Rishi Sunak in the Tory party leadership race, also dismissed suggestions the former chancellor could be installed at the head of a new government on a joint ticket with his fellow contender Penny Mordaunt.

“I don’t recognise that story at all,” he said.

However, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries accused Mr Sunak’s supporters of agitating to get rid of the Ms Truss.

She tweeted: “They agitated to remove Boris Johnson and now they will continue plotting until they get their way. It’s a plot not to remove a PM but to overturn democracy.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a general election.

He said: "This mustn't just be the end of Kwarteng's disastrous chancellorship, it should be the death knell of the Conservatives' reckless mismanagement of our economy. It didn't suddenly start with Kwarteng but it must end now.

"People are angry, fed up and worried about the future. Most of all they are furious that Conservative MPs seem to think this is an acceptable way to conduct the government of our country in these difficult times.

"Enough is enough. It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy, it is time for the people to have their say in a general election."

Mr Kwarteng's departure makes the Spelthorne MP the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.

The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.

Since 2019, the UK has had four chancellors, including Nadhim Zahawi who served the third shortest tenure with 62 days during a short-lived reshuffle under Boris Johnson, and Sajid Javid who served 204 days - the fourth shortest tenure on record.