06 March 2024 , 10:31
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is one of the UK's richest politicians - but he doesn't like being told.
The multimillionaire Tory, who will announce his Spring Budget statement today, once lost his rag on the radio after being confronted with his enormous personal wealth. Back in 2019, Mr Hunt appeared on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show where the host described him as the "richest man in Cabinet" during a discussion about his business past.
At the time, Mr Hunt was co-owner of an Italian holiday home and owned an office building in London and a rental empire of seven flats in Southampton. He had also made a reputed £14million when he sold his stake in education firm Hotcourses in 2017. But despite his clear wealth, Mr Hunt did not take the comment from Jeremy well.
Jeremy Vine questioned if the now-Chancellor was the 'richest member of Cabinet' - and he didn't like it (Channel 5)Jeremy said: "I gather you're the richest member of the Cabinet", to which Mr Hunt lost his cool after what seemed to be a fairly benign statement. He replied: "Hang on. My salary while I was running my business was a lot lower than your salary now." To which Jeremy replied: "But I am not in Cabinet."
Mr Hunt wasn't giving up and urged the radio host not to get into "the politics of envy". A slightly confused Jeremy then explained that surely it is a "compliment" about his often-mentioned business background. He said: "I was just pointing out that you were a business person who made some money that is all."
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He added: "I love the way you immediately think that it is critical." But Mr Hunt replied: "No you weren't. You brought up that fact which may or may not be true - I have no idea. A lot of people would say if we start labelling people like that in a way which says that kind of thing is not a compliment we are not going to be a successful country."
A baffled Jeremy responded: "I am amazed." Mr Hunt finally relented and said that if Jeremy "really meant it as a compliment" he would take it. Audibly furious Mr Hunt added: "Thank you Jeremy for instead of saying I was successful and set up a business and created 200 jobs that you said I was the richest man in Cabinet.
"And if that was meant as a compliment - which I somehow doubt - then thank you for that very generous compliment." To which Jeremy replied: "Wow." Earlier in the campaign, Mr Hunt - who is the son of an Admiral and a graduate of both prestigious private school Charterhouse and Magdalen College, Oxford - spoke about his "daily grind to stay alive" as a young entrepreneur.