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Who is Jeremy Hunt, UKs new finance minister?
- Jeremy Hunt was appointed UK's finance secretary
- Hunt replaces Kwasi Kwarteng
- Jeremy Hunt was born on November 1, 1966
Jeremy
Hunt, former foreign minister of the United Kingdom, was appointed finance
minister, Prime Minister Liz Truss’ office announced Friday. Hunt takes on the
reigns of UK’s economy after Kwasi Kwarteng’s resignation after less than six
weeks on the job. Hunt will have to encounter Britain’s cost-of-living crisis
head on. He is UK’s fourth finance minister in four months.
Who is
Jeremy Hunt?
Jeremy Hunt
was born on November 1, 1966 in Lambeth Hospital, Kennington. His father,
Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt, was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. His mother
Meriel Eve nee Givan (now Lady Hunt) is the daughter of Major Henry Cooke
Givan.
Hunt did
his schooling from Charterhouse and then went to do his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford. At university,
David Cameron and Boris Johnson were his contemporaries. He was active in
Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) and was elected president in
1987.
Also Read | Liz Truss fires finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng after tax cuts spark outrage
Jeremy Hunt’s
parliamentary career began when he was elected to represent South West Surrey
in the 2005 general elections. He supported David Cameron’s bid to become prime
minister and was himself appointed Shadow Minister for Disabled People.
At the
time, Hunt’s politics revolved around denationalising the National Health
Scheme (NHS). He wrote a pamphlet titled Direct Democracy: An Agenda For A New
Model Party, in which he suggested replacing the NHS with “a new system of
health provision in which people would pay money into personal health accounts,
which they could then use to shop around for care from public and private
providers. Those who could not afford to save enough would be funded by the
state.”
Hunt later
denied that the pamphlet reflected his views.
Jeremy Hunt
was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport in
2010. He spearheaded Britain’s organisation of the 2012 Olympics. From 2012 to
2018, Jeremy Hunt served as Britain’s health secretary. In July 2018, Hunt was
appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, replacing
Boris Johnson.
A
backbencher from 2019-22, Hunt returned on the national political scene as a
contender for the prime ministerial post following Johnson’s ouster. However,
he was eliminated in the first round.
On October
14, Jeremy Hunt was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing Kwasi
Kwarteng.
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