Jeremy Hunt: moderate with the challenge of being Truss’s chancellor

Britain’s new chancellor Jeremy Hunt is “one of the most experienced and widely respected government ministers and parliamentarians”, said Liz Truss on Friday, as she announced a U-turn on a centrepiece of her tax-cutting “mini” Budget.

Back in July, Hunt threw his weight behind Truss’s rival in the Conservative party leadership race, former chancellor Rishi Sunak. “Politics is really about character,” he said, arguing that Sunak was “one of the most decent, straight people” he had ever met in Westminster. 

Months later, Truss claims that Hunt is fully behind her vision for the country. “Jeremy Hunt as chancellor is somebody who shares my desire for a high-growth, low-tax economy, but we recognise because of current market issues we have to deliver the mission in a different way,” she told reporters in Downing Street. 

According to allies of Truss, Hunt took the job on the understanding that he would not rip up those parts of the government’s “plan for growth” that have so far survived. “It’s not a blank sheet of paper,” said one.

That suggests Truss expects Hunt not to propose any more U-turns on the tax cuts proposed by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng in his fiscal statement on September 23.

Market forces may force them to think again: City figures have warned the Treasury and Number 10 that hefty tax rises are needed to balance the books when Hunt presents a medium term debt-cutting plan on October 31.

Hunt, who was first elected to parliament in 2005 representing the south of England seat of South West Surrey, is the UK’s fourth finance minister this year, following the departures of Kwasi Kwarteng, Nadhim Zahawi and Rishi Sunak. 

Hunt, 55, hails from a relatively affluent background, having been educated at the fee-paying Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey, and at Oxford university, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. 

Shortly after graduating, he joined a management consultancy and taught English in Japan before dipping his toes into business. His educational publishing group Hotcourses employed more than 200 people and was sold in 2017, netting Hunt £14mn in profit. 

“He’s a moderate, he’s socially liberal, but let’s not forget he’s a hard-nosed businessman,” one senior Tory observed on Friday. “That will come through during his chancellorship.”

He’s a moderate, he’s socially liberal, but let’s not forget he’s a hard-nosed businessman

Hunt first joined the cabinet under prime minister David Cameron, serving as culture secretary from 2010 until 2012 during the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. He later embarked upon a short stint as foreign secretary under Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, between 2018 and 2019.

It was, however, serving as health secretary for six years from 2012 that resulted in Hunt’s rise to prominence within the parliamentary party and in the public eye. His tenure remains the longest of all.

Most notably, he became embroiled in a dispute between junior doctors and the government in 2016. The row over contracts for junior doctors and pay for evening and weekend work led to hospital staff in England walking out of routine and emergency care.

Hunt has since 2020 remained engaged with the sector as chair of the House of Commons health and social care select committee.

He has become a fierce advocate for boosting investment in the NHS, voicing concerns over the effects of understaffing and criticising the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

His appointment to the second-most important job in the UK government was welcomed by some in health circles.

Saffron Cordery, interim head of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, described Hunt as “a strong advocate of a long-term, fully costed and fully funded national plan to help the NHS attract and keep the staff it so desperately needs — and we look forward to working with him”.

Others urged him to deal with issues such as NHS pay and pension taxation rules. Professor Phil Banfield, chair of council at the British Medical Association, called on Hunt to “put forward a credible plan for long-term investment in the NHS to stop it descending any further into crisis”.

Jeremy Hunt was a member of the Commons health and social care committees during the pandemic © Parliament TV

Hunt’s promotion marks the high point of his political career so far, having tried and failed to win over fellow MPs in the past two Tory leadership races.

In the 2019 contest, which was dominated by the party’s handling of Brexit, Hunt — who had voted to stay within the EU — came second to Boris Johnson, winning 46,656 votes to Johnson’s 92,153.

In this summer’s race, Hunt centred his bid on restoring trust in politics and growing the economy.

Positioning himself as a pro-business candidate, Hunt argued in favour of cutting corporation tax from 19 per cent to 15 per cent, calling it “the tax that matters most to businesses and defines whether we are a pro-enterprise economy”.

But he was knocked out in the first round, after picking up 18 votes from colleagues.

Truss hopes the announcement of an experienced moderate will be enough to calm financial markets destabilised by the “mini” Budget, and backbench Tory MPs, some of whom have asked if she should remain in office.

Some greeted Hunt’s appointment with cautious optimism. One ally said: “he is a safe appointment as far as the markets are concerned” and described him as a “grown-up” unlikely to make gaffes. 

Former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell, who ran Hunt’s 2022 bid for the top job, said he was “a one-nation Tory and a highly successful entrepreneur who understands what it takes to achieve growth”.

“He is also now in a powerful position to drive forward an agenda that both he and the prime minister support. He will bring very considerable experience to the task,” added Mitchell.

Another veteran MP said succeeding Kwarteng was “an impossible job and a poisoned chalice” but added: “He’s a thoroughly decent man with a great sense of duty.”

Others remained less optimistic. One senior backbencher described Truss’s choice of Hunt as “sensible” but said her premiership was “doomed” regardless of the change in personnel.