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Tom Hunt (politician)

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Tom Hunt
MP
Hunt in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Ipswich
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded bySandy Martin
Majority5,479 (11.0%)
Personal details
Born
Thomas Patrick Hunt

(1988-08-31) 31 August 1988 (age 36)
Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
University of Oxford
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteOfficial website

Thomas Patrick Hunt[1] (born 31 August 1988)[2] is a British Conservative politician and the serving Member of Parliament for Ipswich.[3] He was elected in 2019 general election with a majority of 5,479, winning 50.3% of the vote.[4]

Earlier in his career, Hunt was also involved in East Anglian politics: between 2011 and 2017, he was a councillor on East Cambridgeshire District Council.[5][6][7] Following the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal, Hunt also worked as the Chief of Staff to the elected Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Early life

Hunt was born and raised in Ely, Cambridgeshire. His father is a long-serving councillor on Cambridgeshire County Council and East Cambridgeshire District Council.[citation needed] Hunt attended school at King's Ely[8] and Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.[citation needed] He went on to study Politics and Modern History at the University of Manchester and an MSc at the University of Oxford.[8][9]

Political career

Local and regional government

In 2011, Hunt was elected as a district councillor for Ely South in East Cambridgeshire. He served on East Cambridgeshire District Council until 2017 and was Head of Media for the Countryside Alliance.[10]

After working as a parliamentary assistant for Oliver Dowden MP Hunt worked as chief of staff to the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. In July 2020, a government minister, Simon Clarke, criticised the appointment, saying that the legal advice behind it "contained significant omissions".[11]

2017 general election

In the 2017 general election, Hunt stood as a candidate in the Doncaster Central constituency, but lost to Rosie Winterton.[12]

2019 general election

Hunt was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Ipswich by the local Conservative Association in September 2018. He had few previous connections to the town.[13]

During the run up to the 2019 general election, Hunt said he would prioritise more investment in public services in Suffolk. This was to include more funding for Suffolk Constabulary to tackle county lines gangs and knife crime.[14] He stated that Ipswich had not had a fair deal regarding police funding, and also called for tougher sentencing for those found guilty of serious crime.[9]

Hunt has also stated that he wanted infrastructure upgrades. He has expressed his support for an Ipswich northern bypass,[15] a solution to closures of Orwell Bridge due to high winds,[16] in addition to better and more reliable rail services.[17]

He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Ipswich on 12 December 2019, defeating the incumbent Labour MP Sandy Martin. He received 24,952 votes, a 50.3% vote share.

Hunt identified Brexit and the unpopularity of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as issues behind the Conservatives' victory in Ipswich. He said being elected to represent Ipswich was the greatest honour of his life.[18]

Member of Parliament for Ipswich

One of Hunt's first actions after becoming an MP was to join the European Research Group, a eurosceptic group of MPs.[19] After his election to Parliament in 2019, Hunt said his priorities for Ipswich included combatting anti-social behaviour, ensuring good hospital and GP services in the constituency, and seeking greater investment in roads and the rail network in Suffolk.[20]

In his maiden speech, Hunt said that he had been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. He favours support for children with special educational needs.[21][22]

In January 2020 Hunt wrote in an article for the local East Anglian Daily Times newspaper on crime and anti-social behaviour in Ipswich stating "It is impossible to start thinking about remedies to these issues without also being ready to confront the possibility that a disproportionate number of crimes are committed by individuals from certain communities. This is something we should be open and honest about. Brushing it under the carpet will not get us closer to solving the issue."[23] The Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality called his comments "at best disappointing and at worst an ill-judged piece of dogwhistling."[24] Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, referred to them as "very unhelpful".[25]

During November 2020 he joined the COVID Recovery Group[26] and abstained in the vote for a second lockdown.[27]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Hunt was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[28] He has also said that Historic England are "waging a war against our heritage", and considers their approach to explaining slavery at their sites as "Maoist and dystopian".[29]

Since being elected as Member of Parliament for Ipswich in 2019, Hunt has used social media to reach out to his constituents. Hunt's approach to social media has been criticised, with some believing he is closing out communities and shutting down free speech. On 16 March 2021 Hunt denied claims made by Labour Councillors that he had refused to meet with front-line workers with Hunt saying that this was due to earlier disputes with TUC members.[30]

In April 2021 Hunt called for the flying of the Union Jack to be made compulsory in all schools claiming that "If any pupils and teachers have concerns about this then surely they can be “educated” about what the flag actually represents"[31] led to widespread criticism with many social media users suggesting that his use of quote marks for educated sounded like a veiled threat.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard.parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Hunt, Tom. "Meet Tom".
  3. ^ "Tom Hunt MP". UK Parliament.
  4. ^ "Election 2019". BBC News.
  5. ^ "Local Election Results 2011 East Cambridgeshire". Local Elections Archive.
  6. ^ "District Council Election Results - 7th May 2015". East Cambridgeshire District Council. 5 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Ely South Ward - 7th September 2017". East Cambridgeshire District Council. 7 September 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Memories of King's Ely by Old Elean and Member of Parliament, Tom Hunt". kingsely.org. 16 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b Jolley, B (13 December 2019). "Ely-born Tom Hunt - until now Mayor James Palmer's chief of staff - is the new Conservative MP for Ipswich". Ely Standard.
  10. ^ "Tom Hunt: Fox hunting. I was a candidate in an urban seat. And I can tell you that it did no real damage to our support". Conservative Home. 19 June 2017.
  11. ^ John Elworthy (21 July 2020). "Leaked letter reveals Government warning to Mayor James Palmer to put his house in order". Ely Standard.
  12. ^ "Doncaster Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ Geater, P (30 September 2018). "Who'd be a parliamentary candidate? Ipswich Tory Tom Hunt faces a long wait until election". Ipswich Star.
  14. ^ Hunt, T (13 July 2019). "My Discussion with Boris". YouTube.
  15. ^ Papworth, A (12 August 2019). "Would-be Ipswich MP brands northern bypass opponents 'NIMBYs'". Ipswich Star.
  16. ^ Noble, J (5 December 2019). "Could major review of Ipswich transport solve town's traffic problems?". East Anglian Daily Times.
  17. ^ Geater, P (1 April 2019). "Rail Minister Andrew Jones visits Ipswich to promise improvements in the future". East Anglian Daily Times.
  18. ^ Geater, P (13 December 2019). "Conservatives take Ipswich from Labour in 2019 General Election". Ipswich Star.
  19. ^ Geater, Paul (18 December 2019). "Watch: Tom Hunt signs in as Ipswich MP - and joins Conservatives in ERG". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  20. ^ Geater, P (13 December 2019). "Tom Hunt's first interview as new Ipswich MP". Ipswich Star.
  21. ^ Hunt, Tom (14 January 2020). "Education and Local Government". Hansard.
  22. ^ Papworth, Andrew (10 February 2020). "'I'm very dyspraxic': Ipswich MP Tom Hunt reveals battle with learning difficulties". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Tom Hunt MP: It's time to rid Ipswich streets of crime, no matter how petty". East Anglian Daily Times. 10 January 2020.
  24. ^ Howlett, Adam (11 January 2020). "Racial equality group criticises Ipswich MP". East Anglian Daily Times.
  25. ^ Geater, Paul (14 January 2020). "Ipswich MP Tom Hunt comes under fire". Ipswich Star.
  26. ^ "Ipswich's Tom Hunt backs anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs". Ipswich Daily Star. 17 November 2020.
  27. ^ "MPs back second Covid lockdown – Ipswich's Tom Hunt abstains in vote". East Anglian Daily Times. 4 November 2020.
  28. ^ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  29. ^ Hunt, Tom (13 February 2021). "History of our nation must not be rewritten by baying mob of woke statue-topplers". Express.co.uk.
  30. ^ "Ipswich MP's door always open to key workers after row over meeting". Ipswich Star. 16 March 2021.
  31. ^ "The flying of the Union flag should be compulsory..." Twitter. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  32. ^ "Tom Hunt MP: Kids should be 'educated' to like compulsory Union flag flying". The National. 2 April 2021.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Ipswich
2019–present 		Incumbent
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