‘Safe hands’ Hunt may refuse invite to be PM’S less charismatic sidekick

Ever since he was replaced as health secretary by Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt has been busily diagnosing all the Government’s ills. Having refused to accept what he perceived as a demotion to defence secretary after Johnson beat him to No10 in July 2019, the PM’S leadership rival has gone on the offensive.

As the chairman of the health and social care select committee, he spent the pandemic voicing his criticisms of Downing Street’s response to coronavirus.

Therefore, no one was surprised when the politician with the shortest odds to replace Johnson announced he would be voting against him in Monday’s confidence ballot.

In a series of tweets seen as firing the starting gun on a second leadership pitch, the MP for South West Surrey insisted: “Conservative MPS know in our hearts we are not giving the British people the leadership they deserve. We are not offering the integrity, competence and vision to unleash the enormous potential of our country.

“And because we are no longer trusted by the electorate, who know this too, we are set to lose the next general election. Today’s decision is change or lose. I will be voting for change.” Little wonder, then, that talk has now surfaced of Johnson being urged to offer his chief critic the job of Chancellor in a bid to stabilise his leadership and heal Tory party rifts.

Loyalists are now speaking of a “dream team” in which Johnson would be the election-winning frontman and Hunt his less charismatic but “safer pair of hands” sidekick. The Ernie Wise to Johnson’s Eric Morecambe.

The suggestion has been likened to Gordon Brown’s decision to bring Lord Mandelson, a Tony Blair ally with whom he had clashed, in to shore up his administration in 2008.

Yet, while the strategy may satisfy former US president Lyndon Johnson’s preference for having a dangerous rival “inside the tent p------ out rather than outside the tent p------ in”, there is no guarantee Hunt would agree to the proposal, not least as he rejected a role in Johnson’s original cabinet.

Binding Hunt to the Prime Minister’s agenda might not suit the man who has steadfastly refused to rule out running for the top job, either.

Yet the move could be mutually beneficial. Johnson could certainly do with a dose of Hunt’s good bedside manner. Despite his row with junior doctors, and Nadine Dorries’s claim that he failed to adequately prepare for the pandemic during his six years as health secretary, Hunt is generally regarded as a decent, honest and trustworthy sort who might help to restore faith in No10. Equally, by taking one for the team and aligning himself to Johnson, the father-of-two would endear himself to the Leavers and Right-wingers he needs to support him should some sort of succession deal be struck. The Remainer, whom the Financial Times once described as a “metropolitan liberal”, was outvoted two to one by the party membership, who these days prefer their leaders to be as true blue and Brexit as possible.

The other fly in the ointment is Rishi Sunak, who would have to relinquish the second most powerful job in government in order for this new double act to succeed. The move could have the undesired effect of pushing another contender to the throne outside the tent. While the Chancellor’s stock has fallen following reports around his family wealth and tax status, he still remains a significant threat at 10/1 to replace Johnson.

And while Tories may be concerned that he has “gone native” at the Treasury with his tax-and-spend, there is no guarantee that Hunt would fare any better (although the multimillionaire former businessman did propose reducing corporation tax and increasing the point at which workers become liable for National Insurance when he was running for leadership).

It would also look disingenuous for Johnson to stab Sunak in the back when he has outwardly been so supportive – not to mention the fact that any wider reshuffle is going to run the risk of punishing the ministers who stood by him on Monday night.

The Tories clearly believe they have a Prime Minister who campaigns well but governs badly. But the hunt for a solution appears to be getting increasingly desperate.