It is July 2019, and Cambridgeshire is hosting a debate between Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson in the battle to decide which of them becomes Prime Minister.
Boris and Jeremy had emerged as the front runners in the Tory leadership race and party members got the chance to quiz them at Woodlands Event Centre on Great North Road, Wyboston.
The rest, as they say is history, as Boris went onto win.
Fast forward to 2022 and there’s a moment of irony in recalling one of the questions posed to Jeremy Hunt – by the chairman who asked him if he would be Chancellor of the Exchequer in a Boris Johnson Government.
Hunt responded: “That would be great for the media if I answered this question, wouldn’t it?
“But it’s not relevant because I’m going to win this contest.”
Ironically Mr Hunt is now Chancellor of the Exchequer – serving under Boris Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss.
For how long he lasts is a matter of speculation but certainly likely to be longer than his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng.
A Cambridgeshire reporter Nicola Gwyer who covered the 2019 hustings between Johnson and Hunt reported on comments by the latter who said austerity had gone too far too far with policing and social care cuts.
He was asked by a Tory Party member “what are you going to do for our elderly and social care system which is clearly underfunded?”
Hunt replied: “We had to make very difficult cuts in 2010.
“We were right to do that because we put the economy back on its feet.
“There are two areas, in hindsight, where austerity went too far – […] police […] and the social care system.
“We are a party that agrees in fairness between generations.
“Every single older person [should be] treated with dignity and respect.
“[But there is] personal responsibility, as we live much longer, we need to encourage people when they’re young to save for their social care costs.
“In the same way we encourage people to save for their pension.
“[…] maybe part of the same plan but in that we are building up for that
“So, you can keep your assets and pass them onto your children when you die.”
You can read the husting report in full below
