Philip Alexander Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, (born 19 May 1949) is a former health administrator and a

Labour Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidat ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Early life and career

Born in 1949, Philip Hunt was educated at the single-sex

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

City of Oxford High School for Boys The City of Oxford High School for Boys (a.k.a. Oxford High School for Boys and City of Oxford School) was founded in 1881 by Thomas Hill Green to provide Oxford boys with an education which would enable them to prepare for University. History ...

, later the Oxford School. He graduated from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 1970 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in political studies.

Professional career

Hunt became a works study officer in 1972 for the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Regional Hospital Board, moving to Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre as hospital administrator in 1974. He was the first Secretary of Edgware and Hendon Community Health Council. He was the first Chief Executive of the

NHS Confederation The NHS Confederation, formerly the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services founded in 1990. The predecessor organisation was calle ...

, and previously Director of the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts (NAHAT) from its formation in 1990. Before that he was Director of its predecessor organisation, the National Association of Health Authorities (NAHA) from 1984 to 1990. In the

1993 Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's ...

, he was appointed to the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

as an Officer (OBE) for "services to the NHS". Hunt was President of the Royal Society for Public Health from 2010 to 2018.

Parliamentary career

In 1997, Hunt was created a life peer in the

with the title Baron Hunt of Kings Heath, ''of Birmingham in the County of

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

'', taking the Labour whip. He served as a

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

(PUSS) at the Department of Health from 1999 until his resignation in 2003 over the

Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. Hunt was re-appointed to government in May 2005 as a PUSS at the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

. He returned to the Department of Health as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

in January 2007. Following the appointment of

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, Hunt moved to the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

as a PUSS in July of that year. In the October 2008 government reshuffle, Hunt became Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and

for Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Air Quality at both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the newly created

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the functions related to energy of the Department for Busin ...

(DECC), later leaving DEFRA in 2009 to work solely at DECC. In June 2009, he was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council. He left his ministerial offices in May 2010 after Labour lost the general election. Following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

as Labour Party leader, Hunt was appointed Labour's spokesperson on

Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

and the Cabinet Office in the House of Lords. He left these roles in September 2012. He served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 2010 until 2017. He was a Lords spokesperson for Health, later

Health and Social Care Health and Social Care (often abbreviated to ''HSC'' or ''H&SC'') is a term that relates to services that are available from health and social care providers in the UK. This is a generic term used to refer to the whole of the healthcare provision ...

, from 6 September 2012 until leaving the role on 24 May 2018 to become a backbencher. In September 2011, Hunt contributed to the book ''What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation''; his piece was entitled ''Our NHS: The Labour Party Challenge''.www.whatnextforlabour.com/contributors/
/ref> From 2011 until 2014, he served as Chair of

Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) was one of the largest organisations running NHS hospitals in England. The hospitals and services run by HEFT included Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital and Community Services, Good Hope Hospita ...

References

External links

*
Short interview
giving views on House of Lords reform
BBC News profileTheyWorkforYou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Philip 1949 births Living people Hunt of Kings Heath Life peers created by Elizabeth II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the University of Leeds Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at the City of Oxford High School for Boys National Health Service people Fellows of the Royal Society for Public Health