Kwasi Kwarteng

"The prime minister was ... very dynamic, very forceful. That’s a great strength."

"I think the prime minister was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast. But I think it was too quick. If you look at it, it was on the 23rd of September. We only got into the office on the 6th of September. And looking back I think a measured pace would have been much better."

"Absolutely, 100%, Im not going anywhere."

"After the mini-budget we were going at breakneck speed and I said, you know, we should slow down, slow down. She said, "Well, I’ve only got two years" and I said, "You will have two months if you carry on like this". And that is, I’m afraid, what happened."

"[On Truss sacking him.] People will ask, "If you sacked the person who was doing what you wanted, why are you still there?"

"[Asked if his observations matched his own experiences] Well, no, I … held high office. I really enjoyed that. Its a great feeling. Its a great honor. Its incredibly interesting. Very nerve racking as well. But I think, Ive always tried to be a bit more balanced."

"These people, political people, but I think particularly people who get to the top, they’re kind of adrenaline junkies. They enjoy the challenge. Its like watching or being involved in a kind of action movie yourself. Not to trivialize it, but, you know, youre right at the center of events, youve got a lot of authority. You get to decide things. For some people, thats extremely, not only challenging, but incredibly rewarding. And then for that all to stop is, I can see why they want to get back."

"[On Liz Truss] I mean, my issue with her was that, having been bold on the entry, … for me, it was a total capitulation at the end. And, I think, I felt let down, frankly."

"You just get these empty, this feeling of kind of emptiness. Youve got to remember that for a lot of people who are right at the top, they’ve been thinking about this for decades. Theyve been thinking about, you know, becoming an MP, getting into government, maybe getting into Cabinet, you know, all of that. Theyve been on this road, on this journey. And then once youre out, its over. And so theres a kind of feeling of emptiness. Ive seen it and you can see it on their faces sometimes. Theyre just completely bewildered."

"There is more to come – we have only been here for 19 days [...] I want to see, over the next year, people retain more of their money."