Kwasi Kwarteng tried to analyse Nicola Sturgeon’s “downfall” after the Scottish first minister quit this week – but Twitter was having none of it.
You may remember Kwarteng was the chancellor under Liz Truss when she was first elected as the Tory leader back in September.
It wasn’t long until the pair’s own downfall began when they unveiled their own mini-budget, three weeks into the job.
This policy was condemned by economists around the world, triggering the pound to plummet in value, mortgage rates to soar and Tory poll ratings to descend rapidly.
It wasn’t long until Truss tried to save her own skin by ousting Kwarteng (making him the chancellor with the second shortest tenure in UK history) – only to be forced to resign herself 11 days later.
Their successors, prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt essentially ripped up most of the mini-budget in a desperate effort to save the economy.
Despite the widespread backlash over his controversial economic policies, Kwarteng refused to say sorry for the mini-budget in November only saying that he “regrets” the “turbulence” it caused – and claiming that he told Truss to “slow down”.
Sunak did not invite Kwarteng back into government.
Still, Kwarteng decided to criticise the first minister for choosing to step down this week, even though she spent eight years at the helm of Scottish politics.
Speaking to TalkTV on Thursday night, the former chancellor lashed out at Sturgeon over the trans row which has occupied Scottish politics recently.
Isla Bryson, a convicted rapist, identified as a woman after committing her crimes, meaning she was then sent to a woman’s prison but kept apart from other inmates.
This sparked a conversation about women-only spaces – and the Scottish first minister was roped in. Bryson was subsequently moved to a male prison estate.
Suggesting this debate was a reason for Sturgeon’s decision to leave office, Kwarteng said: “This man had been convicted of rape twice, and then was put into a women’s prison, which defies all common sense.
“I think Nicola trying to say this was the right thing to do and she got herself into lots of knots, was really the straw that broke the camel’s back, her ratings plunged”
“Essentially her woke agenda blew up in her face.”
Unsurprisingly, the clip did not land well on Twitter.
The Independent’s political sketch writer Tom Peck joked: “And now let’s hear from Kwasi Kwarteng, the single worst politician in all of British political history. Let’s hear what he thinks.”
Peck later added: “Just can’t stop watching.”
He pointed out how Kwarteng “who didn’t last one haircut as chancellor of the exchequer” was analysing how “Nicola Sturgeon (and her 15-year long frontline career) just lacked ‘common sense’”.
And he wasn’t the only one pointing out the obvious to Kwarteng either.