Jeremy Hunt: Who is the Chancellor and former Secretary of Health?

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to present his spring budget on Wednesday, which is expected to include a range of measures aimed at boosting Britain’s economy and further tackling runaway inflation.

Mr. Hunt is expected to increase the lifetime allowance for tax-free retirement savings from £1.07 millionas part of a “back-to-work budget,” it aimed to encourage some of the country’s wealthiest people to stay in work longer, while enticing retirees back into the office.

It is Mr Hunt’s second financial report since he took office in September last year, during the final days of Liz Truss’ administration. He retained his post as chancellor when Rishi Sunak took over as prime minister in October.

Who is Jeremy Hunt?

Mr Hunt is a well-respected name in the Conservative Party and has twice run unsuccessfully to become party leader.

On his first attempt in 2019 he came closest, finishing second in the lead race, with Boris Johnson winning.

In the leadership race to succeed Mr Johnson last summer, he dropped out early after failing to secure enough votes from his fellow MPs. He continued to support Rishi Sunak before Mrs. Truss, who appointed him Chancellor after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked.

Steve Brine, a Tory MP and an ally of Mr Hunt who previously worked with him at the Department of Health, told BBC Radio 4 pm Program at the time that Mr Hunt was “very” the man who stabilized the ship after the chaos of Ms Truss’ administration.

He called Mr Hunt “calm personified” and said the Conservative Party needed to unite.

“At the end of the day, everyone – critic or not – should want this government to succeed,” Mr Brine said.

“And [what] I know about Jeremy [is] that he is not now licking his lips to become chancellor. But this is a moment to be there for the country and in my experience it has always been the country first and he will see that as his duty now.

“They should see Liz Truss as Chair and Jeremy Hunt as CEO. And I think he’s going to be a very effective CEO and like a new football manager who comes in, at the end of the day the fans are happy when the team wins.”

What is his political background?

Mr Hunt has been Culture Secretary, Health Secretary and Foreign Secretary since he was first elected to Parliament in the 2005 general election and was succeeded as Conservative MP for South West Surrey by Virginia Bottomley.

In his first major role in government, he was shadow secretary for people with disabilities from 2005 to 2007 as a reward for supporting David Cameron – who attended Oxford University at the same time as he did – in the Conservative leadership contest.

When the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government was formed in 2010, Mr Hunt joined the cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

The role brought him to the main stage when London hosted the 2012 Olympics, during which time he worked closely with Mr Johnson, who was Mayor of London at the time.

That same year, however, Mr. Hunt faced demands to resign over his role in BSkyB’s takeover bid. Then-Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Hunt should step down because of his association with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire while he considered the offer, which was later withdrawn. But he survived the dispute and was appointed health minister in September 2012.

Mr Hunt faced his first major backlash during his time as Health Secretary. He held office during a slow period of investment in the NHS, which caused problems at a time when healthcare demands were growing.

He was also criticized for his handling of plans to introduce new resident contracts.

This prompted medics to take part in a series of strikes in 2016, leaving emergency care uncovered – the first time this has happened in NHS history. A new contract for residents was later imposed.

But Mr Hunt pledged an increase in funding for the NHS and also oversaw the introduction of an Ofsted-style system for rating hospitals and GP surgeries in England.

His long tenure as Health Secretary ended when he became Foreign Secretary in July 2018 after his predecessor, Mr Johnson, was ousted from Theresa May’s cabinet.

During his tenure as Foreign Secretary between 2018/19, Mr Hunt attempted to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had been held in Iran on espionage charges, which she has always denied.

After her eventual release in 2022, when Ms Truss was Foreign Secretary, Mr Hunt accused the UK of “diplomatic failure” and said global cooperation was needed to “root out” states that take people hostage.

Expelled from Mr Johnson’s government, he was elected to chair a committee of MPs examining the performance of the NHS and government health policy in January 2020. He led that panel in questioning Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to the Prime Minister, on the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

In June, Mr Hunt announced he had cancer but had since recovered. He said at the time that “every member of his family” had the disease and that he had “a minor” himself.

How did Mr Hunt feel about Brexit?

During the 2016 EU referendum, Mr Hunt sided with Mr Cameron as Remainer, but later said he would support Leave.

After losing to Mr Johnson in the party leadership race in 2019, Mr Hunt said his campaign will “always be uphill” because he voted Remain and therefore fell short of many of his peers.

Where was Mr. Hunt trained?

Mr Hunt was born in Kennington, central London, in 1966 but grew up in the Surrey town of Godalming. He attended Charterhouse School, where he became head boy and is said to have excelled in cross country running.

He was also head of the school’s magical society, where he said he learned a “demanding art” that required “confidence in presentation.”

At Oxford, where he received a first-class degree in philosophy, politics and economics, he first made his mark in the political sphere when he was President of the Conservative Association.

What companies does Mr. Hunt own?

Before his career in parliament, the 55-year-old worked as an English teacher in Japan and was an entrepreneur – he co-founded the educational publisher Hotcourses.

When the company was sold in 2017, he reportedly made £14million, making him one of Britain’s richest politicians.

Mr Hunt has said he will use the money to fund campaigns after he leaves politics.

who is his wife

Jeremy Hunt met his wife Lucia Guo in 2008 at a Hotcourses event in Warwick, where she was working to recruit Chinese students for the university.

The couple married a year later and now have three children together.

It was revealed that Lucia’s nickname for her husband is ‘Big Rice’ because her Chinese grandmother had trouble pronouncing ‘Jeremy’ so she called him ‘Big Mi’ which means ‘Big Rice’.

who are her children

Their son Jack was born in 2010, daughter Anna followed two years later.

Their youngest child Eleanor was born in 2014.

Where does the family live?

The Hunts live in Pimlico, in central London, part of the Borough of Westminster.