Tom Hunt (politician)

In 2011, Hunt was elected as a district councillor for Ely South in East Cambridgeshire. He served on East Cambridgeshire District Council until 2017 and was Head of Media for the Countryside Alliance.[10]

After working as a parliamentary assistant for Oliver Dowden MP Hunt worked as chief of staff to the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. In July 2020, a government minister, Simon Clarke, criticised the appointment, saying that the legal advice behind it "contained significant omissions".[11]

Hunt was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Ipswich by the local Conservative Association in September 2018.[12]

During the run up to the 2019 general election, Hunt said he would prioritise more investment in public services in Suffolk. This was to include more funding for Suffolk Constabulary to tackle county lines gangs and knife crime.[13] He stated that Ipswich had not had a fair deal regarding police funding, and also called for tougher sentencing for those found guilty of serious crime.[9]

Hunt has also stated that he wanted infrastructure upgrades. He has expressed his support for an Ipswich northern bypass,[14] a solution to closures of Orwell Bridge due to high winds,[15] in addition to better and more reliable rail services.[16]

He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Ipswich on 12 December 2019, defeating the incumbent Labour MP Sandy Martin. He received 24,952 votes, a 50.3% vote share.

Hunt identified Brexit and the unpopularity of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as issues behind the Conservatives' victory in Ipswich. He said being elected to represent Ipswich was the greatest honour of his life.[17]

After his election to Parliament in 2019, Hunt said his priorities for Ipswich included anti-social behaviour (against), ensuring good hospital and GP services in the constituency (in favour), and seeking greater investment in roads and the rail network (in favour, if Suffolk).[18]

In his maiden speech, Hunt said that he had been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. He favours support for children with special educational needs.[19]

In January 2020 Hunt wrote in an article for the local East Anglian Daily Times newspaper on crime and anti-social behaviour in Ipswich stating "It is impossible to start thinking about remedies to these issues without also being ready to confront the possibility that a disproportionate number of crimes are committed by individuals from certain communities. This is something we should be open and honest about. Brushing it under the carpet will not get us closer to solving the issue."[20] The Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality called his comments "at best disappointing and at worst an ill-judged piece of dogwhistling."[21] Tory Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, referred to them as "very unhelpful".[22]

During November 2020 he joined the COVID Recovery Group[23] and abstained in the vote for a second lockdown.[24]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Hunt was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[25]