Could a messy Brexit elevate Jeremy Hunt to the top?

Jeremy Hunt is now Britain’s longest-serving health secretary. Having held the post since September 2012, he has been in office for almost six of the 70 years of the NHS that the Government will shortly mark with a major new funding settlement. The occasion seems appropriate for an evaluation of Hunt the politician, as distinct from Hunt the health chief.  Because health is a job that tends to consume and define its holder, we don’t hear much about Hunt except as part of the conversation about the NHS, its funding and its performance.

It’s an obvious point today, but reflect on how resilient Hunt has been. Health is a brutal job, especially for Tories. It doesn’t really matter what you do as health secretary, people will be angry with you and accuse you of letting down the NHS, underfunding the NHS or privatising the NHS. Facts, of course, are no defence against such allegations (wait until the “no private provision” mob discover that GPs are private contractors who own their surgeries…).