These Are Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt’s Actual Policies

The Tory leadership contest is in full flight, which means that candidates Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson are out in the press, taking slugs at each other whilst politely side-stepping questions about their records, or in Johnson’s case, that notorious screaming row with his partner, Carrie Symonds.

Amid all the Punch and Judy to-and-froing of the Tory leadership contest – the stage managed photocalls of candidates grinning in their kitchens with rictus-faced wives and events where everyone in the audience is white and over 65 – it occurred to us that nobody was really looking at Hunt and Johnson’s actual policies. Because, like it or not, one of these men will be getting the keys to 10 Downing Street on 23rd July. So what will they actually do when they get into power as prime minister? We assessed their campaign policies on the biggest issues to find out.

BREXIT

This is the albatross around the Conservative Party’s necks. Either Hunt or Johnson will have to lead us out of our current Brexit quagmire. For Johnson, it will be an entirely deserved punishment – he switched allegiances to campaign for Brexit at the last moment, in a decision many perceived to be solely motivated by personal political gain.

Both Hunt and Johnson are pinning their hopes on being able to renegotiate a new Brexit deal. Incidently, the EU is saying there won’t be any further negotiations on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal. This is an inconvenient fact that the leadership contenders are going to park for now.

Johnson has nailed his colours to the mast very firmly on this one. He’s pledged that the UK will leave by 31st October, deal or not, meaning that a no-deal Brexit is very likely if he wins the leadership contest. (Still, Parliament could reject a no-deal Brexit, setting us up for a general election later in the year to break the deadlock.)

Hunt is more cautious. He’s said that the UK could leave without a deal if there was no other option – but Hunt has hinted he’d ask for an extension from the EU if that meant it was possible to negotiate a better deal. Unfortunately, this probably won’t be possible. As Irish PM Leo Varadkar pointed out on 20th June, most EU states harbour “enormous hostility” to any further extension.

HEALTH

In effect, both Hunt and Johnson have been running campaigns based around a single issue: Brexit. Hunt is the responsible adult in the room, willing to hold off if necessary, while Johnson has half the pin already out of the grenade and will deliver Brexit come what may.

During Hunt’s tenure as health secretary, the NHS missed a string of targets in areas including cancer care, hospital appointments, and A&E waiting times. Hunt was also notorious for his handling of the junior doctor contract row, under which junior doctors were expected to work evenings and Saturdays without any overtime pay. (In an unprecedented step, the British Medical Association voted for industrial action, and doctors went on strike for the first time in the history of the NHS.)

He also made headlines earlier this month after stating that he’d support the abortion time limit being reduced to 12 weeks – however, he subsequently backtracked and said he would not seek to change existing abortion policy if he was PM. It’s not all bad – Hunt did manage to secure a £20.5 billion funding increase for the NHS last year. He’s also stated that he’s committed to a fully funded NHS that is free at the point of access.

Meanwhile, the Guardian unearthed footage of Johnson at a private garden party ominously telling Tory members that the NHS “needs reform”. He wouldn’t be drawn on what reforms he planned to implement, but his comments will undoubtedly alarm NHS workers opposed to further politically motivated, top-down reorganisations – which let’s face it, will almost certainly mean privatisation.

ENVIRONMENT

Neither Gove nor Hunt have said much on environmental issues – it’s not seen as a priority by the Conservative party in general. Alarmingly, Hunt received a £25,000 donation towards his leadership campaign from First Corporate Shipping. One of its directors is prominent climate change denier Terence Charles Mordaunt, whose Global Warming Policy Foundation lobbies the government to ignore the latest evidence on climate change. Mordaunt told Open Democracy that he also made a donation to Johnson’s campaign, which the candidate has yet to record on his register of interests.

Hunt has pledged to deliver a “Green Brexit” – whatever that means. His website states that detail on policy areas will be “published in due course”, which has a definite feel of “let’s stick a pin in it for now and hope no one asks us further down the line”.

Meanwhile, Johnson once described the science behind global warming as “without foundation” in a 2015 Telegraph column. He’s backtracked slightly since then – in an April Telegraph column, he said Extinction Rebellion’s aims were “worthy”, but that they should talk to China. And leading scientist Professor David King told the Guardian in early June that he feared Johnson becoming prime minister because Johnson cut the number of climate attaches – civil servants with briefs on climate change – by 60 percent while he was Foreign Secretary.

Both candidates, however, have agreed to back slashing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 – though Hunt has gone further in promising “sensible tax incentives” to promote green initiatives.

LGBTQ RIGHTS

It’s been hugely unedifying to watch the Tories tear themselves apart over the issue of whether children should be taught about LGBTQ values in schools, i.e. whether it’s socially acceptable for parents to pass their bigotry onto the next generation. At a recent hustings, Hunt pledged that schoolchildren would be taught about LGBT families were he to be Prime Minister. Hunt has also mostly voted for LGBTQ rights as an MP, supporting same-sex marriage and the Equality Act.

By contrast, Johnson mocked gay men as “tank-topped bum boys” in his 1990s newspaper columns, and compared gay marriage to bestiality in a 2001 book. He’s since flip-flopped on LGBT rights. In 2003, he defied his party to vote to abolish Section 28, which banned teachers from discussing homosexuality in schools. As Mayor of London, Johnson came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2010 – although it’s worth pointing out that marriage equality would have been an important issue for his then liberal voter base. He’s promised to continue to champion LGBT rights if elected leader.

HOUSING

In a pitch for younger votes, Hunt has promised to deliver 1.5 million affordable homes. It’s part of his bid to win over the younger voters left alienated by a Tory Party that has consistently prioritised the interests and wellbeing of its older voter base. “Our mission as a Conservative Party has got to be to attract young people,” Hunt told the Sunday Express. Failing to do so means the Conservative Party will be “dead on its feet.”

Johnson has stayed quiet on housing policy throughout the campaign. He’s called for a reduction in stamp duty in his Telegraph columns, and pledged his commitment to home ownership during a fringe speech at last year’s Tory Conference. He’s also stated that he rejects rent controls – but to be honest, given how many of them are private landlords – which Tory doesn’t?

Unless there’s a major upset in the next few weeks, it still looks likely that Johnson will cruise his way into Number 10. Which leaves one final, pressing issue to address: are we really ready, as a nation, for a Prime Minister who probably doesn’t change his socks?