Tories have ‘big mountain to climb’ if they want to win next election, Jeremy Hunt warns Boris Johnson

Former foreign secretary says now is not right time for change of leadership

Boris Johnson has been warned by former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt that the Tories have a “big mountain to climb” if they are to win a majority at the next general election.

Mr Hunt said that asking the public to choose between tax cuts and a well-funded NHS would cost the Conservatives votes, and insisted the party’s drubbing at the local elections should not be dismissed merely as “mid-term blues”.

But he also said that now was not the right time for a change of leadership, while suggesting he still had ambitions to lead the party in the future.

Speaking to Times Radio and the station’s sister paper, Mr Hunt said: “To win an election, the Conservative Party has to promise a well-funded NHS and the prospect of tax cuts. If we make people choose between one or the other, we’re not going to win the election.

“I do think that we would be wrong to say that the setbacks the Conservative Party have are just mid-term blues, and there’s a big mountain to climb to win the next election.”

The former health secretary – who came second to Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest – did not rule out another bid before 2024.

He said: “When you’ve done a few big jobs in the cabinet, and the prime minister goes through a rocky patch then you’re always gonna have that speculation. I personally don’t believe that it’d be right to have a leadership contest right now, because we’re in the middle of a terrible war in Ukraine.”

Mr Hunt added: “I don’t think it’s the right time, but I would be very open with you that I don’t rule out a return in the future.

“I’d have done some things better than Boris Johnson and I’d have made some mistakes that he didn’t make. I think my approach to the pandemic would have been different but on the other hand I wouldn’t have gotten the majority that he got in the 2019 general election.”

‘I do think that we would be wrong to say that the setbacks the Conservative Party have are just mid-term blues,’ says Jeremy Hunt (PA Archive)

Mr Hunt said that while lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street had “horrified” some, they were not the only reason that the Tories lost nearly 500 seats last week.

“Underneath it, I think the reason that we got such a kicking was economic concerns that many families had,” he said.

“We are faced with a situation now where we have very, very low underlying growth in the economy.”