Jeremy Hunt has doubled down on his claim that earning £100,000 a year “doesn’t go as far as you might think” for people in his Surrey constituency, after he was criticised for being out of touch.
The chancellor had previously tweeted that the sum was “not a huge salary” for people in South West Surrey. The median salary for a full-time worker last year was £34,963 and in Surrey it is £42,000.
Hunt defended his remarks by saying that people in his constituency were living in an area of very high average house prices.
He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “What sounds like a large salary – when you have house prices averaging around £670,000 in my area and you’ve got a mortgage and childcare costs – it doesn’t go as far as you might think.
“We weren’t able to afford to fund childcare for people on the higher salaries but I was simply saying that’s something I’d love to be able to look at in the next parliament.”
Hunt was also pressed on the issue in an interview with the BBC’s Kuenssberg on Sunday.
The chancellor said that even on what most people would consider is a very high salary, it does not go as far as you think, because of taxes, housing costs and childcare.
“I do accept that even on those higher salaries, people are feeling under pressure,” he said, while rejecting the idea that the cost of living crisis is over.
Hunt said the UK had been through a “very, very tough patch”, which he said was caused primarily by the invasion in Ukraine. But he said the UK needed to “stick to the course” as interest rates and mortgage rates had not yet begun to come down.
His remarks come after Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative minister, said of the drop in inflation: “It’s what we have been working towards, is seeing the cost-of-living crisis end.”
Hunt also committed to the pensions “triple-lock” – the policy that guarantees an increase in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is highest – in the Conservative party manifesto. There had previously been speculation that it could be put under review.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
