Chancellor Hunt has told his supporters that rumours he intends to quit before the general election are “nonsense and wildly exaggerated.”
Rumours of his departure before the next General Election are “exaggerated”, say his supporters in the SW Surrey constituency. The constituency he leaves behind to fight his old adversary, Lib Dem Paul Follows for the new constituency of Godalming & Ash, which includes Cranleigh & the eastern villages of Waverley.
South West Surrey MP and ‘Mary Poppins” Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has emphatically denied reports suggesting he intends to stand down and avoid going head-to-head with Lib Dem hopeful Paul Follows.
Rumours have been swirling among Surrey Conservatives and at Westminster amid cataclysmic predictions of a wipeout for several serving cabinet ministers after more than 13 years in power. It was believed that Mr Hunt wanted to avoid the ignominy of returning the Ministerial car for the back benches, preferring to pick up a bit of ermine and become Lord Hunt of Mares Pond.
One former minister said that with a Labour government in prospect, the options for Hunt of fighting the new seat were not attractive, whether he won or lost: “Barring a miracle [of the Tories winning and forming another government], I can’t see Jeremy wanting to be in opposition under a new leader. And if he loses, he will be the biggest scalp on election night. That is not a departure anyone would want. People in Surrey are saying he will not stand.”
The Guardian’s claim of a potential ‘Michael Portillo’ moment, referencing the former MP’s unexpected defeat in the 1997 election, has been labelled as “nonsense” by Mr Hunt himself. Had he remained in his old SW Surrey seat, he would be defending a majority of 8,817.
Mr Hunt confirmed his commitment to the new constituency despite the challenges posed by boundary changes, saying:
“It is my hope that Parliament will have the misfortune of my presence for many years to come”.
The chancellor will be pitched against his old adversary, Waverley’s Lib Dem leader Paul Follows, if he does stand – with Cllr Follows pledging to…
“ensure the Portillo moment in the public mindset will become the Hunt moment.” Whether it’s Hunt or someone else, #GodalmingandAsh is crying out for change.
What I can say for sure tonight is this – I will definitely be on the ballot. What about you?
If he wished to quash the rumours then he’d emphatically announce that he has no intention to stand down. “Supporters say that Hunt told them it is exaggeration” sounds like empty spin with lots of wiggle room.
Hunt must have inadvertently inhaled some Guatalmalam Marching Band (other hallucinogenic products are available) when he decided to start this farce.
Even his Fascist friends have lost faith in him.
“Politics always ends in ignominious defeat.” Portillo
MeaninglessMud
Let’s face it though, looking at the opposition locally it will be like Turkeys voting for Christmas. Hunt has been a great MP and the prospective candidates seeking to replace him are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Such a great MP? Ask those residents living in the east of the borough. Wasn’t it MP Anne Milton and her SW Surrey colleague Jeremy Hunt who stopped the Dunsfold Garden Village development on the largest brownfield site in the borough in its tracks – then delayed it with the help of POW (Chris Britten and Co Protect Our Waverley) – then supported covering the rest of the borough’s green fields with housing. Paul Follows wanted Waverley Council to buy Dunsfold, and if he had succeeded, it would be providing much-needed homes by now—a thousand by now, at least.
Well I can assure you Hunt will NOT get my Vote… and I am afraid to admit I have been a long term Conservative Supporter up until a few of years ago… Now I just don’t know any more – I was veering towards Lib Dems, but I just do not feel connected to any of them. I know there will be people saying that I only want an MP that has the best interests of My Neck of the Woods – and they would be right… Because I simply do not feel we have been protected by our MPs or our Borough Councillors of ANY COLOUR
I do not – Nor will I ever agree with you WW, that Dunsfold Park Garden Fekking Village was going to be the Panacea …. It was going to PROTECT Central and West of the Borough which was shown quite clearly when they Scoped it in Waverley back in the day – But what was it going to do for us in the East?
We all know that much of the Infrastructure that was going to be given – would be coming to us years down the line and I honestly do believe they meant to provide it eventually….
I think it is time that some of the other parts of Waverley looked at Their BROWNFIELD land and some of the GreenBelt that really ISN’T GREEN AT ALL…..
Just Saying
The whole tone of this article is wrong, especially the liberals. It reads that they just want humiliate hunt, not actually fight a positive campaign about the future (and how we get out of this mess). Surely after all these years we want a public debate better than just trying to ‘make a moment’.