The chancellor holds the key to the crises facing Britain – so where is he?

From cost of living to nurses’ strikes over pay, the Treasury is at the heart of the biggest issues facing the public right now. But the man in No 11 appears to be in ‘submarine mode’, writes Marie Le Conte

Britain needs and deserves a chancellor who has a plan, and isn’t afraid to show it (REUTERS)

The past 12 months have been eventful for many people in Westminster, but few could claim to compete with the rollercoaster Jeremy Hunt has been on.

This time last year, he was chair of the health select committee, having been forced away from the frontbench by Boris Johnson’s premiership. A few months later, as his great foe was finally toppled, he decided to run for the leadership of his party again. He announced Esther McVey as his running mate, to widespread puzzlement, and was out of the race before it’d even really started.

In the months that followed, he began settling into what looked like the end of his parliamentary career. He posted wholesome pictures of himself with his dog on Twitter, tried his hand at radio presenting, and ran the London Marathon. He backed Sunak over the summer and Sunak lost and that was that. Well, for a couple of weeks at least. Truss came in and self-combusted within weeks, and Hunt was brought out of early retirement for one last job. His appointment failed to save the prime minister; as she left No 10, he stayed at No 11.