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Tom Hunt (politician)

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Tom Hunt
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Ipswich
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded bySandy Martin
Succeeded byJack Abbott
Personal details
Born
Thomas Hunt

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

Thomas Patrick Hunt[1] (born 31 August 1988)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ipswich from 2019 to 2024.[3]

Earlier in his career, he was a councillor on East Cambridgeshire District Council from 2011 to 2017.[4][5][6] Following the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal, Hunt also worked as chief of staff to the elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Early life and education

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Thomas Hunt was born on 31 August 1988 in Ely, Cambridgeshire. He was privately educated at King's Ely[7] and then at the state Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. Hunt went on to study Politics and Modern History at the University of Manchester and an MSc at Pembroke College, Oxford.[7][8] After Manchester and before Oxford, Hunt worked for four months in an agricultural processing plant in the Fens, sorting vegetables.[9]

Political career

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In 2011, Hunt was elected as a district councillor for Ely South on East Cambridgeshire District Council, serving until 2017. He was head of media for the Countryside Alliance.[10]

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

At the snap 2017 general election, Hunt stood as the Conservative candidate in Doncaster Central, coming second with 34.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour Rosie Winterton.[12][13]

Hunt was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Ipswich by the local Conservative Association in September 2018.[14]

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.[15] Prior to the election, Hunt also stated that he wanted infrastructure upgrades. He has expressed his support for an Ipswich northern bypass,[16] a solution to closures of Orwell Bridge due to high winds,[17] in addition to better and more reliable rail services.[18]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2019 general election, Hunt was elected to Parliament as MP for Ipswich with 50.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,479.[19] He said being elected to represent Ipswich was the greatest honour of his life.[20] After his election, 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.[21]

In his maiden speech, Hunt said that he had been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. He favours support for children with special educational needs.[22][23]

One of Hunt's first actions after becoming an MP was to join the European Research Group, a eurosceptic group of MPs.[24]

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".[25] The Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality called his comments "at best disappointing and at worst an ill-judged piece of dogwhistling."[26] The Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, referred to them as "very unhelpful".[27]

During November 2020 he joined the COVID Recovery Group[28] and abstained in the vote for a second lockdown.[29]

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 Daily Telegraph in November 2020 from the Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke[broken anchor] agenda'".[30] 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".[31]

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.[32]

In April 2021, Hunt called for the flying of the Union Flag to be made compulsory in all schools, stating on Twitter that "If any pupils and teachers have concerns about this then surely they can be "educated" about what the flag actually represents".[33]

In January 2022, Hunt reacted to the clearing of the four people charged with the toppling of the Statue of Edward Colston by telling The Daily Telegraph: "If you've broken the law and committed criminal damage you should be punished. If the jury is a barrier to ensuring they are punished then that needs to be addressed".[34]

In April 2022, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak were fined for breaking Covid rules during the 'Partygate' scandal, Hunt said that he believed they did not break the law and the decision to fine them was 'a bit harsh'.[35]

In the 2024 Ipswich Borough Council election, Hunt misplaced his passport and was forced to ask local Conservative members to find someone to act as an emergency proxy.[36] He later explained that the loss was due to his dyspraxia.[37]

Hunt was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Ipswich at the 2024 general election but was defeated by the Labour candidate, Jack Abbott.[38]

References

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  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. ^ "Local Election Results 2011 East Cambridgeshire". Local Elections Archive.
  5. ^ "District Council Election Results - 7th May 2015". East Cambridgeshire District Council. 5 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Ely South Ward - 7th September 2017". East Cambridgeshire District Council. 7 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Memories of King's Ely by Old Elean and Member of Parliament, Tom Hunt". kingsely.org. 16 April 2020.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ The Newsagents podcast, 3 July 2023; Tom Hunt interview instagram.com, accessed 1 November 2023
  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 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  14. ^ Geater, P (30 September 2018). "Who'd be a parliamentary candidate? Ipswich Tory Tom Hunt faces a long wait until election". Ipswich Star.
  15. ^ Hunt, T (13 July 2019). "My Discussion with Boris". YouTube.
  16. ^ Papworth, A (12 August 2019). "Would-be Ipswich MP brands northern bypass opponents 'NIMBYs'". Ipswich Star.
  17. ^ Noble, J (5 December 2019). "Could major review of Ipswich transport solve town's traffic problems?". East Anglian Daily Times.
  18. ^ Geater, P (1 April 2019). "Rail Minister Andrew Jones visits Ipswich to promise improvements in the future". East Anglian Daily Times.
  19. ^ "Ipswich Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  20. ^ Geater, P (13 December 2019). "Conservatives take Ipswich from Labour in 2019 General Election". Ipswich Star.
  21. ^ Geater, P (13 December 2019). "Tom Hunt's first interview as new Ipswich MP". Ipswich Star.
  22. ^ Hunt, Tom (14 January 2020). "Education and Local Government". Hansard.
  23. ^ Papworth, Andrew (10 February 2020). "'I'm very dyspraxic': Ipswich MP Tom Hunt reveals battle with learning difficulties". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  24. ^ Geater, Paul (18 December 2019). "Watch: Tom Hunt signs in as Ipswich MP - and joins Conservatives in ERG". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Tom Hunt MP: It's time to rid Ipswich streets of crime, no matter how petty". East Anglian Daily Times. 10 January 2020.
  26. ^ Howlett, Adam (11 January 2020). "Racial equality group criticises Ipswich MP". East Anglian Daily Times.
  27. ^ Geater, Paul (14 January 2020). "Ipswich MP Tom Hunt comes under fire". Ipswich Star.
  28. ^ "Ipswich's Tom Hunt backs anti-lockdown Covid Recovery Group of Conservative MPs". Ipswich Daily Star. 17 November 2020.
  29. ^ "MPs back second Covid lockdown – Ipswich's Tom Hunt abstains in vote". East Anglian Daily Times. 4 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  31. ^ Hunt, Tom (13 February 2021). "History of our nation must not be rewritten by baying mob of woke statue-topplers". Express.co.uk.
  32. ^ "Ipswich MP's door always open to key workers after row over meeting". Ipswich Star. 16 March 2021.
  33. ^ "The flying of the Union flag should be compulsory..." Twitter. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  34. ^ "Jacob Rees-Mogg defends jury system amid criticism of Edward Colston statue verdict". BBC News. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  35. ^ Hickey, Sean (13 April 2022). "Tory MP: Partygate fines 'a bit harsh' on Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak". LBC. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  36. ^ "Tory MP pleads for help ahead of local elections as he has no valid form of Voter ID". The Independent. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  37. ^ "Boris Johnson tried to use Prospect magazine as voter ID at polling station". The Independent. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  38. ^ "Ipswich - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
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