JEREMY HUNT: Frontline politics is poisonous and I'll never go back
Crisis What Crisis with Andy CoulsonShow Notes
In October 2022, the British economy was in freefall. Liz Truss's mini-budget had sent the pound into a nosedive, mortgage rates were climbing at a terrifying speed, and the IMF had issued a public warning to the government to reverse course. It was, by any measure, a national crisis. Into that emergency stepped Sir Jeremy Hunt who, over a single weekend, dismantled almost the entirety of the economic programme he'd inherited. But that was just the latest chapter in a political career defined again and again by an extraordinary capacity to absorb difficulty and get on with the job. All while managing a private grief that would have broken most people in any role, let alone one of the most demanding in the country. The loss of his father, mother, and brother, all lost to cancer. His new book, Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy, is an act of deliberate optimism in a country that has largely forgotten how to be optimistic. Sir Jeremy Hunt joins Andy Coulson for a conversation about loss, resilience, reputation, and what it really takes to keep your nerve when everything is falling apart. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing a crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM JEREMY: Start a business in your 20s if you possibly can. You've got no mortgage, no kids, no dependents – it doesn't matter if things go wrong, and you'll learn more from failure than you ever will from success. You can cope with one thing going wrong. It's when two or three things go wrong at once that life gets really hard – so close down the smaller crisis as fast as you can, even if that means caving in. The most important thing any leader can build is a team that will tell you when you're wrong. If people are afraid to speak truth to power, you will make bad decisions. Grief gives you something a successful career can't: a sense of what actually matters.
CHAPTERS 03:34 – Why naive goals are sometimes the most powerful ones 05:20 – His father's greatest lesson 07:50 – The tragedy his family never spoke about 10:35 – What unconditional belief from a parent actually does to a child 13:37 – Why failure in your 20s is an asset, not a setback 17:07 – Why business and politics require completely different skills 22:11 – Starting a business with your best friend 26:43 – The junior doctors dispute 30:09 – How to survive being the most unpopular politician in the country 33:01 – Losing his brother Charlie: what grief teaches you that success never can 36:56 – Walking into the eye of the storm as Chancellor 40:59 – How to restore trust when trust is the only thing that matters 44:20 – Why knowing who you are is the foundation of every crisis skill worth having 44:59 – Why Britain thinks far worse of itself than the rest of the world does BUY JEREMY'S BOOK Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy – pick up a copy here: https://shorturl.at/DfIZa FOLLOW JEREMY HUNT Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jeremyhuntmp/ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jeremyrshuntmp X – https://x.com/Jeremy_Hunt LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhuntuk/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), James Quinn (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video)
More from Crisis What Crisis with Andy Coulson
Reverend Richard Coles has lived multiple lives — pop star, priest, broadcaster, novelist. But the greatest crisis of his life came in the form of someone he loved deeply. Richard watched helplessly as his partner David grappled with an addiction that cost David his job, his licence from the bishop, and ultimately his life. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Richard to discuss his Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that he turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. If you haven’t heard the full conversation yet — his journey from pop star to priest, the AIDS epidemic that shaped his generation, his years with David, and what he’s learned about hope in the aftermath of loss — go back and find it in the feed. It’s well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 00:50 A Person – His circle of friends since his teenage years, now neighbours on the South Coast. 01:23 A Habit – Singing. Every Tuesday in the Brighton Festival Chorus. 01:49 A Comfort – Cooking. The whole ritual, start to finish — yes, including the washing up 02:31 A Piece of Advice – From a friend’s motto: “Be authentic and engage.” Work out who you are. Step into the world. BUY RICHARD’S BOOK A Carol and a Killing – https://geni.us/ACAROLANDAKILLING FOLLOW RICHARD COLES Instagram – www.instagram.com/revrichardcoles/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio).
Few people have lived as many lives as Richard Coles. In the 1980s he was the keyboard-playing half of the Communards, whose “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was the biggest-selling single of 1986 – taking him, almost overnight, from the dole queue to flying aboard Concorde and the full pop-star life. Then, the gay socialist atheist who set out, in all seriousness, to bring down the government through the power of pop, became, of all things, a Church of England priest. Then a celebrated broadcaster, a best-selling novelist, a Strictly contestant, and the inspiration for the BBC sitcom Rev. But behind the reinventions runs a thread of profound loss. As AIDS swept through his world in the 1980s, Richard watched a third of his circle die – the formative crisis, he says, of his adult life. At 17, before any of the fame, he survived a breakdown and an overdose he fully intended to be his last act. And decades later came the greatest loss of all: his partner David. In this conversation, Andy Coulson explores a life in which crisis has repeatedly been the doorway to transformation – and what Richard has learned about loss, faith, forgiveness, and how we begin again when the life we knew is taken from us. His latest crime novella, A Carol and a Killing, is out this month. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM RICHARD Sometimes you just have to step forward. You may be uncertain, apprehensive, but stepping forward, into the unknown, is how a new chapter begins. Crises are unavoidable; the opportunity is in not being defeated by them. When you get something badly wrong, face it, own it, make amends – and then let yourself be forgiven. Richard did a thing he remains ashamed of. What mattered wasn’t that he deserved forgiveness, but that he sought it, took his medicine, and learned to live with having been forgiven. Get less interested in yourself. The habits of self-loathing are hard to shake, but Richard found relief not through endless self-examination but through caring less about his own importance – and turning his attention outward, to other people.
Jo Tutchener Sharp is the founder of fashion brand Scamp & Dude. In 2015, with two young boys at home, she suffered a brain haemorrhage and was told she needed major, life-saving surgery. Faced as she saw it with the pearly gates, she felt regret that her positive impact on the world had not been significant enough — so she made herself a promise. If she survived, she would change all that... In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, I sit down with Jo to discuss her Crisis Compass. The four points of navigation that she turns to in order to help survive a crisis – a person, a habit, a comfort and a piece of advice. Our full conversation was recorded live at the BizFest Festival in Essex. If you haven't heard it yet, go back and find it in the feed. It's well worth your time. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY: I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley, visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS: 01:29 A Person – Her husband Rob, business partner and the man who literally saved her life in a hospital room 03:55 A Habit – Paddle every morning. At the club she's not Scamp & Dude Jo, she's Paddle Jo 05:10 A Comfort – A hot bubble bath with the door locked, and cold-water lake swims — being in water 05:50 A Piece of Advice – Stay positive. Good things can come from bad things, if your mind is open to it FOLLOW JO Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/scampanddudejo/?hl=en FOLLOW SCAMP & DUDE Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/scampanddude/?hl=en FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio)
Recorded live at BizFest in Essex, this is the story of how a near-death moment became a £16 million business. Jo Tutchener Sharp had built a successful career – running the beauty division of Purple PR, leading communications at Estée Lauder, then founding her own agency, Beauty Scene, and growing it to a turnover of around £5 million. In 2015, with two young boys at home, she decided to step away. But the stress of the exit took a physical toll, and shortly afterwards she suffered a brain haemorrhage that could bleed again at any moment, with potentially fatal consequences. Facing what she calls her "pearly gates" moment, Jo was overwhelmed not by fear but by regret – the feeling that, were she to die tomorrow, she would not have made a big enough mark on the world. So Jo made herself a promise: if she survived, she would dedicate the rest of her life to doing good. Just eleven months after brain surgery, Scamp & Dude was born, a clothing brand with purpose stitched into its heart. Today Scamp & Dude turns over £16 million a year, has donated 4.5 million products to charitable causes, and given more than 95,000 scarves to women starting chemotherapy. For her work Jo was awarded an OBE for services to fashion and charity. In this business episode, Andy Coulson explores how Jo turned a life-threatening crisis into a moment of opportunity, and what it really takes to build a brand where purpose, family and commercial success pull in the same direction. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FOUR LESSONS FROM JO Take the calculated risk, not the leap of faith. Jo lined up five clients and £25,000 a month in fees before she resigned from Estée Lauder. De-risk the jump before you make it. Build the business around the life you actually want. Jo walked away from a £5m agency because it cost her time with her kids. Scamp & Dude was designed the opposite way – with her family built into it. Success isn't just the turnover; it's whether the business gives you the life you wanted. Purpose is the engine that keeps you going when it gets hard. For Jo it's charity; for you it might be something else entirely – but find the reason you're really doing it, because that's what stops you quitting. Awareness can be worth more than margin. Know which parts of your business are there to make money and which are there to build the brand, and don't confuse the two.
Mike Soutar is an entrepreneur, publishing titan and the forensic interviewer familiar to millions from BBC’s The Apprentice. In this bonus episode of Crisis What Crisis, Mike shares the four points of personal navigation he relies on when life gets hard: a person, a habit, a comfort and a single piece of advice. If you haven’t heard our full conversation yet, go back and find it in the feed. It’s packed with hard-earned lessons about risk, resilience and leadership. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. CHAPTERS 00:42 A Person – His wife Bev, the rock and centre of his world 01:27 A Piece of Advice – “A great day in the office is when you lose more arguments than you win” 02:48 A Comfort – The jangly optimism of 1980s Scottish pop 04:28 A Habit – The daily wet-shaving ritual that centres him BUY MIKE'S BOOK Next Gen CEO: Leadership Lessons for an Uncertain World – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Next-Gen-CEO-Lessons-Uncertain/dp/1035095726 FOLLOW MIKE SOUTAR Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mike_soutar/?hl=en LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-soutar/ FOLLOW CRISIS WHAT CRISIS? Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crisiswhatcrisispodcast TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@crisispod This was a Crisis What Crisis Production – Rex Fisher (producer), Ioana Barbu (studio manager), Fred Sharp (research), Johnny Seifert (audio), Jasper Cullen (video).