Jeremy Hunt

British Conservative politician

Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt MP (born November 1, 1966) is an English politician who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024. He was born in Kennington, London. He is the Member of Parliament for South West Surrey. He was the Secretary of State for Health from 2012 - 2018. He was the longest-serving Health Secretary in British political history.[1]


Jeremy Hunt

Official portrait, 2022
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Assumed office
8 July 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byRachel Reeves
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
14 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime Minister
Preceded byKwasi Kwarteng
Succeeded byRachel Reeves
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
9 July 2018 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byBoris Johnson
Succeeded byDominic Raab
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care[a]
In office
4 September 2012 – 9 July 2018
Prime Minister
Preceded byAndrew Lansley
Succeeded byMatt Hancock
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
In office
12 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byBen Bradshaw
Succeeded byMaria Miller
Shadow Cabinet posts (2005-2010)
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In office
2 July 2007 – 11 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byHugo Swire
Succeeded byBen Bradshaw
Shadow Minister for the Olympics
In office
2 July 2007 – 11 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byHugo Swire
Succeeded byTessa Jowell
Shadow Minister for Disabled People
In office
6 December 2005 – 2 July 2007
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byPaul Goodman
Succeeded byMark Harper
Further offices held
Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee
In office
29 January 2020 – 14 October 2022
Preceded bySarah Wollaston
Succeeded bySteve Brine
Member of Parliament
for Godalming and Ash
Assumed office
5 July 2024
Preceded byConstituency established
Majority891 (1.6%)
Member of Parliament
for South West Surrey
In office
5 May 2005 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byVirginia Bottomley
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt

(1966-11-01) 1 November 1966 (age 57)
London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Lucia Guo
(m. 2009)
Children3
FatherNicholas Hunt
RelativesAgnes Hunt (cousin)
EducationMagdalen College, Oxford (BA)
Websitejeremyhunt.org

He gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford. He is a member of the Conservative Party. He was first elected in the 2005 general election. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.[2]

In July 2018 Hunt became the Foreign Secretary after Boris Johnson resigned from the government. [3]

On 24 May 2019, Hunt announced his campaign to run for Leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 election.[4] On 20 June, Hunt and Boris Johnson became the final two candidates in the contest.[5] He lost the election to Johnson on 22 July. He later quit as Foreign Secretary.

He was Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee from 2020 to 2022,

In July 2022, Hunt announced his second candidacy for Conservative Party leader in the leadership race to replace Boris Johnson.[6] He was eliminated from the election in the first round of voting on 13 July.[7]

Political career

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Conservative Party leadership candidate (2019)

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Main articleː 2019 Conservative Party leadership election

After Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister on the 24 May 2019, Hunt announced his campaign to become the next Leader of the Conservative Party,[8] On 20 June 2019, he was named one of the final two candidates.[9] Hunt was defeated by Boris Johnson after the Conservative Party's members voted in the final round. Hunt got 33.6% of the vote, and Johnson got 66.4% of the vote. Hunt was criticised when his campaign was given £10,000 by a close associate to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.[10][11] This criticism was because Mohammed bin Salman has been accused of human right violations.[12][13][14][15] Following Boris Johnson's election as party leader, Hunt was offered the role of Secretary of State for Defence in Johnson's Cabinet, but decided to decline the offer.[16]

Conservative Party leadership candidate (July–September 2022)

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Main articleː July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election

Following the resignation of Boris Johnson as Leader of the Conservative Party, Hunt announce he would be participating in the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Johnson as Leader. He criticised Johnson for investing in infrastructure instead of "wealth creation", and proposed policies including a moratorium on taxes for businesses in underdeveloped areas for five years, and a cut to corporation tax to 15% instead of a proposed rise to 25%.[17] He also said he would retain the rise in National Insurance rates, and would not cut income tax until he "[got] the economy growing".[18] Hunt said Esther McVey would be Deputy Prime Minister if he were to become prime minister.[19] He was removed in the first round of voting on 13 July, receiving 18 votes.[20] He endorsed Rishi Sunak after being removed.[21]

  1. Secretary of State for Health until 8 January 2018

References

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  1. "Jeremy Hunt: millionaire, longest serving health secretary — steady hand?". 2023-07-10. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  2. "Privy Council appointments, 13 May 2010". Privy Council. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  3. "Jeremy Hunt is the new Foreign Secretary". The Independent. 9 July 2018.
  4. "VIDEO: Jeremy Hunt confirms Tory leadership bid at Haslemere Festival". Farnham Herald. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  5. "Johnson and Hunt left in Tory leader race". BBC News. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. "Ex-health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt join Tory leadership race". BBC News. 9 July 2022.
  7. "Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi knocked out of Tory leadership race". the Guardian. 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  8. "UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to stand for Conservative leadership". Reuters. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. "Johnson and Hunt left in Tory leader race". BBC News. 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  10. Payne, Adam; Bienkov, Adam (5 July 2019). "Jeremy Hunt's bid for prime minister is being funded by a close ally of Saudi prince Mohammed Bin Salman". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  11. Milmo, Cahal (5 July 2019). "Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson accused of 'central role' in arming Saudi Arabia as UK's relationship with Riyadh reaches crossroads". i. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  12. Nereim, Vivian (2023-02-21). "'Equality of Injustice for All': Saudi Arabia Expands Crackdown on Dissent". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  13. "Saudi Arabia: Women's Rights Advocates Arrested". Human Rights Watch. 2018-05-18. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  14. Hearst, David (21 June 2017). "Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's Prince Of Chaos". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  15. 2019: MBS denies involvement in Khashoggi killing, but takes "full responsibility" (YouTube). 60 Minutes. 26 February 2021.
  16. Woodcock, Andrew (24 July 2019). "Jeremy Hunt turns down job in Boris Johnson's cabinet". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  17. "Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt join Conservative Party leadership race". BBC News. 10 July 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  18. Riley-Smith, Ben (9 July 2022). "Jeremy Hunt: 'I can restore voters' trust ... I stayed out of the Boris bubble, after all'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  19. Walker, Peter (10 July 2022). "Jeremy Hunt to pick Esther McVey as deputy PM if he becomes Tory leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  20. "Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi knocked out of Tory leadership race". The Guardian. 13 July 2022. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  21. Scott, Jennifer (14 July 2022). "Conservative leadership race: Jeremy Hunt backs Rishi Sunak after being knocked out of contest". Sky News. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.