Jeremy Hunt defends Liz Truss as leader as he appears to rule out future as PM

Mr Hunt replaced Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor following Prime Minister Liz Truss's announcement on Friday after weeks of fall-out over the mini-budget.

On his first day in office, the former Health Secretary admitted that the government had made mistakes and that there would be "some very difficult decisions ahead". 

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Hunt said that "actions speak louder than words” as he promised to reassure the markets with effectively a new budget in two weeks’ time.

PA (Image: PA)

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt defends Liz Truss as Prime Minister 

When asked why people should trust what the Prime Minister says, he said: “Because she’s listened. She’s changed. She’s been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics, which is to change tack.

“What we’re going to do is to show not just what we want, but how we’re going to get there.”

The Chancellor was also asked about public trust in the Conservative party to bring stability, he said: “I want people to know that we are going to make those difficult decisions in lots of areas, going to affect lots of walks of life, in order to do everything we can as a Government to bring back that stability.

“Now, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. There’s now two weeks in which we are going to go through a process of doing that.

“But I think what the country will see at the end of that process is a Government that is willing to do the tough and difficult things to secure the long-term prosperity that we all want for our families.”

The Chancellor is yet to make any "specific commitments"ahead of his fiscal statement on October 31.

However, he explained that he wanted to keep as many of Liz Truss’s tax cuts as possible but currently all options remain open.

The Chancellor added: “I’m not taking anything off the table. I want to keep as many of those tax cuts as I possibly can because our long-term health depends on being a low-tax economy. And I very strongly believe that.”

Mr Hunt suggested that spending cuts are on the way and that no Government department would be immune from “efficiency savings”.

READ MORE: New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hints tax rises could be coming amid 'very difficult decisions'

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Jeremy Hunt has been “clinically excised” of desire to be PM

The new chancellor was also questioned on his own political ambitions following his previous failed attempts at running for the leadership. 

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, he said that the desire to lead the party had been “clinically excised” following his failed campaigns.

He added:  “I think having run two leadership campaigns, and by the way failed in both of them, the desire to be leader has been clinically excised from me.

“I want to be a good Chancellor. It’s going to be very, very difficult. But that’s what I’m focusing on.”