Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt      (politician)
Jeremy Hunt cousin of Tristram Hunt and Baroness Bottomley
Born	Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt 1 November 1966 London, England
Alma mater	Charterhouse School, Magdalen College (Oxford)
Children	3
Spouse	Lucia Guo
Founder of	Hotcourses
Member of	Paley Media Council
Interest of	John Lewis
Party	Conservative
High profile Tory politician  Chancellor of the Exchequer  In office 14 October 2022 - 5 July 2024 Appointed by Liz Truss Preceded by Kwasi Kwarteng Succeeded by Rachel Reeves  Chair of the Health Select Committee In office 29 January 2020 - 14 October 2022  UK/Foreign Secretary  In office 9 July 2018 - 24 July 2019 Preceded by Boris Johnson Succeeded by Dominic Raab  UK/Health and Social Care Secretary In office 4 September 2012 - 9 July 2018 Preceded by Andrew Lansley Succeeded by Matt Hancock  Secretary of State for Culture Olympics Media and Sport In office 12 May 2010 - 4 September 2012  Shadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport  In office 2 July 2007 - 11 May 2010  Shadow Minister for the Olympics In office 2 July 2007 - 11 May 2010 Succeeded by Tessa Jowell  Shadow Minister for Disabled People In office 6 December 2005 - 2 July 2007  Member of Parliament for South West Surrey In office 5 May 2005 - Present

Jeremy Hunt is a British Conservative Party politician who was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer by Liz Truss on 14 October 2022, replacing Kwasi Kwarteng.

Jeremy Hunt is the MP for South West Surrey since the 2005 General Election, when he succeeded his cousin Baroness Bottomley. He was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from July 2018 until Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019.

As Health Secretary, Hunt was responsible for negotiating a new contract for junior doctors which increased their basic pay but reduced the hours that qualify for premium pay, including reclassifying Saturday as "normal hours". Negotiations with the doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), failed, resulting in multiple strikes in 2016.

In February 2017, when Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Theresa May of arranging a 'sweetheart deal' with Surrey County Council, to avoid the levying of a 15% increase in Council Tax for funding social care, Corbyn noted that the constituencies of both Jeremy Hunt and the Chancellor Philip Hammond were in Surrey, which must have influenced the special funding arrangements that had been secretly agreed.

He has been a critic of Boris Johnson, and has been discussed as a future prime minister. In June 2022, UK/Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries alleged that Hunt had urged her to follow a Chinese-style lockdown in March 2020.

In October 2022, he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer by Liz Truss, becoming the 'de-facto' Prime Minister. This marked his first return to the frontbench since 2019.

Education

Jeremy Hunt was born in Kennington and studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.

Voice from the North

According to Northern Voices in December 2015:

"I doubt there is anything that is more guaranteed to get the backs up of English workers than hearing some upper middle-class Tory bastard telling them that they need to work harder.

"Earlier this year at the Tory Party conference in Manchester, the multi-millionaire Health Secretary, Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt, claimed in a conference speech that low-paid workers lacked dignity and self respect and ought to graft like the Chinese 'Who put in punishing hours' in a sweatshop. Needless to say, having been born into a life of privilege, this former head boy of Charterhouse and student of Magdalen College Oxford, would know all about hard graft.

"Jeremy Hunt's own career and advancement in life, is something that seems to have been shrouded in mystery. At the Tory Party conference, Hunt claimed that his father "worked as a manager" for the NHS. Given that his father, Sir Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt, was Admiral of the Fleet in his main career, this is something of an exaggeration. After retirement, Sir Nicholas like a lot of well-connected establishment figures, became a 'quangoista', joining various hospital boards. He then became Chairman of the South West Surrey District Health Authority during 1990 to 1995 and then Chairman of Nuffield Hospitals from 1996 to 2001. For most of this time, his niece, Virginia Bottomley, was the Secretary of State for Health in a Conservative government.

Monopoly caterer

During 1998-2001, Virginia Bottomley became vice-Chair of the British Council, a body that is linked to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and which promotes British cultural interests overseas. While she was at the British Council, Jeremy Hunt, became the monopoly supplier obtaining the catering contract for his company Hotcourses. As the monopoly catering supplier for the British Council, Jeremy amassed the fortune that he is so proud of today.

Until her retirement from open politics, Virginia Bottomley, had been the Conservative MP for South West Surrey. In 2005, her cousin Jeremy Hunt inherited her constituency (not quite Queen's Crawley) and stepped into her shoes becoming the new MP. Virginia was then ennobled and became Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone. She now lobbies on behalf of the private health sector and was a director of BUPA between 2007-2013.

Media Minister

After being elected to Parliament, Jeremy was appointed Minister for Media and Culture and was put in charge of adjudicating the News Corp bid for BSkyB. Jeremy had previously partnered News Corp in his educational supplies business. After being an MP for just seven years, Jeremy Hunt became Secretary of State for Health, a position that had been previously held by his cousin Virginia Bottomley.

Although he owes much of his success in life to the social class that he was born into and his social connections, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, says that it's not where you come from that really matters but where you are going. But career progress of this type, "the leg up", or some would say 'nepotism,' is something that is admired by Cameron in spite of his assertions about merit. Cameron's only job outside of politics, was when he worked for Carlton TV, a job he got by being given a leg up by his mother-in-law, Lady Annabel Astor.

We do not mean to throw any odious imputation upon the general character of either Virginia Bottomley or Jeremy Hunt, nor do we suggest that they have acted in any way illegally. However, it is intriguing how both their lives and careers have been so closely intertwined as Jeremy as followed in the footsteps of his older cousin in becoming Health Secretary and in inheriting her Surrey constituency. Nor should we be surprised at the antics of a nepotistic English ruling elite, the Tory Party, who work to defend established privilege and work for anyone with money or power.

As for working like the Chinese, Jeremy Hunt failed to mention in his speech to the Tory Party that in 2010, Apple's Foxconn plants in China issued contracts forcing workers to sign a pledge stating that they would not commit suicide due to workplace stress. Another cousin, is Tristram Hunt MP, the son of Lord Hunt.

Party leadership bids

Disgraced Mark Field MP embracing Lucia at the launch of her husband Jeremy's 2019 Conservative Party leadership campaign

Jeremy Hunt announced his first bid to become the leader of the Conservative Party on 24 May 2019, following the resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May. On 20 June 2019, he was named one of the final two candidates but was defeated by Boris Johnson after securing only one third of the vote. His campaign was given £10,000 by a close associate to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

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 turn it down.

When Boris Johnson announced his resignation on 7 July 2022, Jeremy Hunt said he would again stand in the subsequent Conservative Party leadership election. Hunt criticised Johnson for investing in infrastructure instead of "wealth creation", and proposed policies including a moratorium on business rates in deprived areas and a cut to corporation tax to 15% instead of a proposed rise to 25%. He also said he would retain the rise in National Insurance rates and would not cut personal taxation until he "[got] the economy growing". Hunt said Esther McVey would be deputy prime minister if he were to become Prime Minister. He was eliminated in the first round of voting on 13 July 2022, receiving 18 votes. He endorsed Rishi Sunak after being eliminated.

Jeremy Hunt declined to bid for the party leadership a third time, upon the announced resignation of Liz Truss on 20 October 2022.

Provoking disgust

On 11 April 2019, as Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt made a statement about the arrest of Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy:

“No one is above the law. Julian Assange is no hero. He has hidden from the truth for years and years and it is right that his future should be decided in the British judicial system.

"What has happened today is the result of years of careful diplomacy by the foreign office and I commend particularly our ambassador in Ecuador, and Alan Duncan and his team here in London for their work but also the very courageous decision by President Moreno in Ecuador to resolve the situation that has been going on for nearly seven years.

"I mean it’s not so much Julian Assange being held hostage in the Ecuadorian Embassy, it’s actually Julian Assange holding the Ecuadorian embassy hostage in a situation that was absolutely intolerable for them so this will now be decided properly, independently by the British legal system respected throughout the world for its independence and integrity and that is the right outcome.”

According to a report by The Indicter in December 2021:

There are no specific facts in Hunt’s statement regarding any charges, crimes or convictions. His comments “no hero” “hidden from the truth” “holding the Ecuadorian embassy hostage” “absolutely intolerable” are speculative opinion.

Jeremy Hunt's statement is designed to provoke disgust.

Undeclared interest

In 2018, a complaint was lodged with the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner alleging that Jeremy Hunt had failed to declare his 50 per cent stake in a luxury property firm, Mare Pond Properties Ltd. A spokeswoman for Mr Hunt said:

“These were honest administrative mistakes which have already been rectified.”

 

Event Participated in

Event	Location(s)	Description
UK/Parliament/Voted YES to vaccine passports in 2021	UK/House of Commons	These members of the UK Parliament voted YES to the introduction of a "vaccine" passport in 2021

 

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