Tom Hunt

Tom Hunt grew up in Ely and studied Russian to postgraduate level at Oxford. He is former chief of staff to the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, James Palmer, and before that was a senior parliamentary assistant to Oliver Dowden MP. Hunt has also worked for the pro-hunting organisation the Countryside Alliance as a media relations manager. He is a member of the European Research Group and campaigned for Vote Leave during the 2016 referendum. Since 2019, he has been on the Transport Committee: he is an advocate for greater investment in rural transport links. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Education Committee and the Petitions Committee. During his 2019 election campaign, he called for greater police funding to tackle knife crime and county lines gangs. In 2020, Hunt claimed that a disproportionate number of crimes in his area were committed by “a certain community”. The Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality said his comments were: “at best disappointing and at worst an ill-judged piece of dog-whistling”. Hunt is dyspraxic and dyslexic. He is a member of four APPGs on Bangladesh, dyspraxia, micromobility and philanthropy and social investment.