Jeremy Hunt (politician)
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt[1] (born 1 November 1966) is the British Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.
He is the Conservative MP for South West Surrey.
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[edit] Early life
The elder son of Meriel Eve Givan and Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt,[2] a senior officer in the Royal Navy, Hunt was raised in Surrey close to the constituency that he now represents in Parliament.
[edit] Education
Hunt was educated at Charterhouse School, where he was head boy, followed by Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, where he achieved a First in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). He became President of Oxford University Conservative Association in 1987.
[edit] Life and career
Shortly after graduating, Hunt became a management consultant before resigning to become an English language teacher in Japan. Whilst living in Japan he became a proficient speaker of Japanese and an enthusiast of modern Japanese culture.
On his return to Britain, Hunt joined Profile PR, a public relations agency specialising in IT which he co-founded with Mike Elms, a childhood friend. With clients such as BT, Bull Integris, and Zetafax Profile did well during the IT boom of the mid 1990s. Hunt and Elms later sold their interest in Profile to concentrate on directory publishing. Together they founded a company now known as Hotcourses a major client of which is the British Council. Hotcourses has provided financial support to Hunt's parliamentary office.[3]
In September 2010, The Observer reported "raised eyebrows" that Hunt's former Parliamentary Assistant Hon Naomi Gummer had been given a job within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on a fixed-term civil servant contract after Hunt had proposed departmental cuts of 35%-50%.[4] The head of the Public and Commercial Services Union questioned Hunt's motives saying: Political independence of the civil service is a fundamental part of our democracy and we would be deeply concerned if this was being put at risk by nepotism and privilege.[4] Gummer is the daughter of Tory peer Lord Chadlington who was a director of Hotcourses between 2000 and 2004.[4]
Hunt was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.[5]
[edit] Member of Parliament
Hunt was elected at the 2005 general election, after Virginia Bottomley - a former member of the Board of Trustees of British Council - became a Life Peeress. He won the constituency with an increased majority of 5,711.
After supporting David Cameron's bid for leadership of the Conservative Party, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Disabled People in December 2005. In David Cameron's reshuffle of 2 July 2007, Hunt joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport.
He launched his own YouTube Channel in March 2008.[6]
Hunt has been actively involved in campaigns against closure of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department of The Royal Surrey Hospital,[7] against closure of Milford Hospital, and in favour of protecting community beds at Haslemere Hospital. He cites the successful campaign to save the Royal Surrey County Hospital as his proudest political achievement so far.[7]
[edit] Political views
An ardent Tory of the same generation as David Cameron and Boris Johnson, Hunt became involved in politics during the Thatcher Years of the 1980s - a period which coincided with his time at Oxford University, where he was active in the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA). Hunt was one of the four Conservative MPs who voted in favour of the 2010 Digital Economy Act.[8]
[edit] Expenses
In 2009, Hunt was investigated by a "sleaze watchdog," the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after allowing his political agent to live in his taxpayer funded home in Farnham as a lodger from November 2005 to June 2007.[9][10] The commissioner found
Mr Hunt was in breach of the rules in not reducing his claims on the Additional Costs Allowance in that period to take full account of his agent's living costs. As a result, public funds provided a benefit to the constituency agent... But I accept that Mr Hunt received no real financial benefit from the arrangement and that the error was caused by his misinterpretation of the rules. [10]
Hunt’s offer to repay half the money, i.e. £9,558.50 was accepted.[10]
Hunt also had to repay £1,996 for claiming the expenses of his Farnham home whilst claiming the mortgage of his Hammersmith home.[10] The commissioner said
Mr Hunt has readily accepted that he was in error, and in breach of the rules of the House, in making a claim for utilities and other services on his Farnham home in the period during which it was still his main home. He has repaid the sum claimed, £1,996, in full. It is clear that, as a new Member in May 2005, his office arrangements were at best disorganised. [10]
The Legg Report showed no other outstanding issues.[11] Hunt's expenses were ranked 568 out of 647 in 2008-2009 and 548 out of 645 in 2007-8.[12]
[edit] Hillsborough comments
In June 2010, Hunt attracted controversy for suggesting football hooliganism played a part in the death of 96 football fans in the Hillsborough disaster; when in reality lack of police control and the presence of terraces and perimeter fences were established as the causes of the tragedy. He later apologised saying "I know that fan unrest played no part in the terrible events of April 1989 and I apologise to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured in the Hillsborough disaster if my comments caused any offence." [13]
[edit] Culture Secretary
As the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Hunt oversaw an expansion of the responsibilities of his Department. Competition and policy issues relating to media and telecommunications became the responsibility of the culture secretary; they were removed from the purview of the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, after Cable was recorded stating that he had "declared war" on News Corporation.[14]
Hunt was consequently given the quasi-judicial power to adjudicate over News Corporation's proposal to take full control of the satellite broadcasting company BSkyB. Hunt elected not to refer to the deal to the Competition Commission, announcing on 3 March 2011 that he intended to accept a series of undertakings given by News Corporation, paving the way for the deal to be approved.[15] Following a series of scandals concerning phone hacking, a House of Commons motion was planned that called on News Corporation to abandon the bid. The bid was eventually dropped[16].
[edit] Personal life
Hunt married Lucia in China in 2009. They have a son called Jack (born May 2010).[17]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ London Gazette: no. 59418. p. 8745. 13 May 2010.
- ^ A cup of tea (and rice wine) secures Chinese bride for dashing Tory Daily Mail, 3 January 2009
- ^ of Members’ Interests "Jeremy Hunt Register of Members Interests". theyworkforyou. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/jeremy_hunt/south_west_surrey#Register of Members’ Interests. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Jamie Doward (19 September 2010). "Row after Tory peer's daughter is given job in culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's department". London: Guardian Newspapers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/19/jeremy-hunt-naomi-gummer-chadlington-dcms. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Privy Council appointments, 13 May 2010". Privy Council. http://www.privy-council.org.uk/files/other/13th%20May2010%20List.doc. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ^ "Jeremy Hunt's YouTube Channel". http://www.youtube.com/user/mpjeremyHunt.
- ^ a b Jeremy Hunt Conservative Party
- ^ Who has voted YES? Debill Votes, 8 April 2010
- ^ "MPs' expenses: Jeremy Hunt to repay £9,500". London: Daily Telegraph. 10 Dec 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/labour-mps-expenses/6780793/MPs-expenses-Jeremy-Hunt-to-repay-9500.html. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Standards and Privileges Committee - Fourth Report Mr Jeremy Hunt". parliament.uk. 10 December 2009. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmstnprv/157/15702.htm. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Review of past ACA payments" (PDF). House of Commons Members Estimate Committee. 4 February 2010. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmmemest/348/348.pdf. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ "Jeremy Hunt, Conservative MP for South West Surrey". TheyWorkForYou.com. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/jeremy_hunt/south_west_surrey#expenses. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
- ^ "Jeremy Hunt 'sorry' over Hillsborough hooligans claim". BBC News. 28 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/10434714.stm. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ "Business secretary Cable stripped of media powers". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 22 December 2010. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2010/12/22/uk-business-secretary-cable-stripped-of-media-powers-1/. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
- ^ "Hunt gives green light to News Corp-Sky deal". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 3 March 2011. http://www.mediaspy.org/report/2011/03/03/hunt-gives-green-light-to-news-corp-sky-deal/. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
- ^ "News Corp withdraws bid for BSkyB". BBC News. 13 July 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14142307.
- ^ JEREMY HUNT "ELATED" WITH LATEST ROLE Jeremy Hunt, May 2010
[edit] External links
- Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP official constituency website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
- Articles authored at Journalisted
- Meet the MP: Jeremy Hunt, BBC News, 29 June 2005
- Audio clips
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Virginia Bottomley |
Member of Parliament for South West Surrey 2005–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ben Bradshaw as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport |
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 2010–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Tessa Jowell as Minister of State for the Olympics |
||
| Order of precedence in England and Wales | ||
| Preceded by Michael Moore as Secretary of State for Scotland |
Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media, and Sport |
Succeeded by Edward Mark de Breteuil Devereux as Heir Apparent to Viscount Hereford |
| Order of precedence in Northern Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Michael Moore as Secretary of State for Scotland |
Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media, and Sport |
Succeeded by Edward Mark de Breteuil Devereux as Heir Apparent to Viscount Hereford |
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