He was Greece’s finance minister for eight months in 2015, between January and August – a turbulent period that saw the radical programme of the left-wing Syriza government collide with the agenda of the European Union’s leaders.

After leaving government and resigning his parliamentary seat in August 2015, in protest at Syriza's acceptance of the latest EU-stipulated bailout programme for his country, Varoufakis has become a roving critic of what he perceives as capitalism's flaws and excesses, and the abrogation of democracy by elites.