Exclusive: chancellor emphasises importance of centre ground ahead of election as Reform courts Tory vote
t the first three doors that Jeremy Hunt knocked on during his canvassing session in leafy Godalming earlier this week were voters who said they would back the
After almost 20 years in parliament and a string of senior cabinet jobs, including foreign secretary and chancellor, and with the Tories on course to lose the next election and with it swathes of constituencies – including his own of Godalming and Ash – some expected Hunt to retire from parliament. “It sort of suggests that somehow I’m window dressing for a bad cause, when actually I believe in Conservative values. The fundamental difference between Conservatives and Labour is that we don’t think Labour people are bad, we just think they’re wrong.
He had not heard rumours about possible defections from the Conservatives to Reform before nominations close on Friday. “I’m not expecting a call from Nigel,” he joked.Hunt acknowledges that many voters have real concerns about immigration, but adds: “What is wrong is to say there is a simple solution.
Hunt, as a multimillionaire, has in the past been accused of being out of touch with ordinary voters. He has donated more than £100,000 of his own money to his campaign. And he was criticised for suggesting that a £100,000 salary would not go as far as you might think in “The way I look at the last 14 years is that we haven’t got everything right, but where there are difficult decisions we haven’t shied away from them.”
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