Patron
Philip Hunt has been a member of the House of Lords since 1997. He also speaks for the Opposition on Health, Cabinet Office and Lords reform.
He has been President of the Royal Society of Public Health, GS1 and the Health Care Supply Association. He is Treasurer of the Associate Parliamentary Health Group; Secretary of the All-Party Group on the Constitution. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Parliamentary House Magazine.
He served for 10 years in the 1997-2010 Labour Government. He resigned in 2003 over the Iraq War and returned at the 2005 general election.
He was Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change from 2008-2010. He also served as a Minister in the Department of Health, Department of Work and Pensions, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.
He was responsible for piloting changes to the law in the Lords to allow for embryonic stem cell research. He recently won a vote to ban the smoking of cigarettes in cars when children are present.
He was the first Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, and previously Director of the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts (NAHAT) from its formation in 1990. He ran its predecessor organisation, the National Association of Health Authorities (NAHA) from 1984 until 1990. He also served as a member of the Council of the International Hospital Federation from 1986-1991.
He was President of the Family Planning Association 1997-1998 and co-chaired the Association for Public Health from 1994-1998. From 1980-1982 he was a member of Birmingham City Council and a member of Oxford City Council from 1973-1979. From 2011 -2014, he chaired the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.
Philip Hunt was made a Privy Counsellor in 2009. He holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Aston, Birmingham and Birmingham City. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons. He was awarded the OBE in June 1993.
Philip Hunt lives in Birmingham. He is a keen supporter of Birmingham City FC and Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
