Jeremy Hunt spoke to Conservative Party members at a dinner in Callow End last Friday, November 17.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer addressed West Worcestershire Conservative supporters at a fundraising dinner at the Stanbrook Abbey Hotel.

It was the South West Surrey MP's first return to the area since he went on a tour of Tenbury with West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin whilst he was campaigning for the Conservative Party leadership in 2019.

 

 

Read more: Jeremy Hunt autumn statement: National Insurance rate cut

 

 

Mr Hunt, who has served as Chancellor for two different Prime Ministers, Liz Truss and incumbent Rishi Sunak, since being appointed in October 2022, visited ahead of delivering his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons yesterday (November 22), when he announced the Government's spending plans for the forthcoming year.

Worcester News: Jeremy Hunt (centre) and Harriett Baldwin at the fundraiser

In his statement, Mr Hunt announced a 2p cut in national insurance in January, which he said would save someone earning £35,000 over £450, and benefit 37 million people.

The Chancellor also announced that a tax break for businesses investing in new equipment would also be made permanent, which he described as the "biggest business tax cut in modern history".

These measures mitigate the tax burden by a minor 0.7 percentage points compared to previous forecasts, although it continues to increase annually reaching a shocking post-war record of 37.7% of GDP by 2028-29.

With the statement behind him, Mr Hunt's work will now be examined by Mrs Baldwin, who also serves as chair of the Treasury Select Committee.

She said following his speech at the fundraising dinner: "It was a pleasure to welcome my friend and colleague Jeremy Hunt back to the constituency and I was grateful that he was able to spare the time to come and visit in what is such a busy week for him.

"He spoke to Conservative party members setting out a positive vision for our country’s economy and he answered some difficult questions about current Government policy."

"It’s going to be an interesting week with his Autumn Statement tomorrow and then the Chancellor coming to the Treasury Select Committee on (Wednesday) November 29."