Britain's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt arrives in Downing Street. AFP.
Britain's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt arrives in Downing Street. AFP.
Britain's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt arrives in Downing Street. AFP.
Britain's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt arrives in Downing Street. AFP.

UK's new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has wealth of experience in Cabinet roles


Neil Murphy
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Jeremy Hunt is no stranger to government roles, having spent his 17-year career in politics in a variety of Cabinet jobs.

The MP for South West Surrey was elected to his safe Conservative seat in 2005 after Virginia Bottomley, the now Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, stepped down.

His first Cabinet role, as culture secretary, was given to him following the 2010 general election which saw the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats form a coalition government.

During his two-year stint in the role, he was praised for the hugely successful London Olympics, but also faced calls to resign over his role in the BSkyB takeover bid.

Then Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Hunt should quit over his contacts with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire while he was considering the bid, which was later withdrawn.

Mr Hunt was later promoted to health secretary during a cabinet reshuffle in 2012, succeeding Andrew Lansley.

As health secretary, he secured a £20 billion-a-year funding increase for the NHS and expanded his department to include social care.

But his time in office was controversial and saw him face criticism from doctors and nurses due to the pressures on the NHS.

His scrapping of junior doctors’ overtime pay led to multiple strikes by medical staff across the UK.

Despite calls to resign, he stayed put, later being made foreign secretary after the shock resignation of Boris Johnson in 2018.

In the Brexit referendum, Mr Hunt campaigned to remain in the EU.

Jeremy Hunt is a political survivor who will require all of his considerable experience to calm an economy beset by chaos. Getty.
Jeremy Hunt is a political survivor who will require all of his considerable experience to calm an economy beset by chaos. Getty.

The son of an admiral in the Royal Navy, Mr Hunt is public school-educated and he attended Oxford University at the same time as former prime minister David Cameron. Unusually for a former British foreign secretary, he speaks a non-European language, Japanese.

His wife Lucia was born in China. The entrepreneur was a co-founder of the online education outfit Hot Courses, from which he has drawn tens of millions in dividends in recent years.

As health secretary he survived numerous crises over the public health system, the NHS and recently presided over celebrations of its 70th birthday. He has proven spurs as a bureaucratic fighter, winning the social care portfolio back to oversee, alongside health.

Mr Hunt has also spoken of the importance and urgency of resolving the Yemen conflict and has stressed the importance of working alongside allies in the Arab Coalition, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in achieving a resolution.

Following the resignation of prime minister Theresa May in 2019, he announced he would campaign to become leader of the Conservative Party.

He was the runner-up in the race, losing to Mr Johnson.

The new PM then offered Mr Hunt the job of defence secretary after Dominic Raab was chosen as the new foreign secretary, but he declined it.

Mr Hunt said at the time on Twitter: “I would have been honoured to carry on my work at the FCO but understand the need for a new PM to choose his team.

“BJ kindly offered me another role but after nine years in Cabinet and over 300 cabinet meetings, now is the time to return to the backbenches from where the PM will have my full support.”

He then stepped back from the front benches for several years, focusing on his role as chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, a role he was elected to at the beginning of 2020.

He used his position to make a number of critical interventions on the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, and was supportive of the nation going into lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

Following the resignation of Mr Johnson as PM earlier this year, Mr Hunt announced his intention to again run for the Tory leadership.

But he was eliminated from the race after the first round of voting by Tory MPs.

Earlier this year, Mr Hunt revealed that he had had cancer and had since recovered.

He ran in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life to raise money for cancer charities.

Kwasi Kwarteng sacked as UK Chancellor — in pictures

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ASHES FIXTURES

1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27 
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

England ODI squad

Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

The biogs

Name: Zinah Madi

Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links

Nationality: Syrian

Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2

Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”

 

Name: Razan Nabulsi

Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links

Nationality: Jordanian

Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5

Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”

Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:

2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8

ENGLAND SQUAD

Team: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds

Replacements 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell

Essentials

The flights

Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours. 

The package

Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.

Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)

Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)

Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Greatest Royal Rumble results

John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match

Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto

Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus

Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal

Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos

Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe

AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out

The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match

Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin

India Test squad

Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur

The biog:

From: Wimbledon, London, UK

Education: Medical doctor

Hobbies: Travelling, meeting new people and cultures 

Favourite animals: All of them 

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Updated: October 14, 2022, 6:13 PM