This one truly is the gaffe that keeps on giving.
UK politician Jeremy Hunt was given a pretty sizeable promotion this week, taking on the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer after the former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, was fired by prime minister Liz Truss. But Hunt had only been on the job for a few days before a familiar slip-up came back to haunt him.
During his ITV show Peston, political editor Robert Peston attempted to say the phrase « Jeremy Hunt’s cuts ». Unfortunately, he got some of the sounds a bit muddled up.
Hunt’s surname has been plaguing journalists for years now. Back in 2010, Radio 4 presenter James Naughtie made the same slip when Hunt was Culture Secretary.
In 2017, when Hunt was Health Secretary, BBC journalist Ellie Price did exactly the same thing while reporting live outside Number 10.
Even earlier this year, before Hunt was even back in the cabinet, Sky presenter Sophie Ridge fell foul of the decades-old gaffe while presenting from the studio.
Will reporters ever stop getting Jeremy Hunt’s name so very, very wrong? Almost certainly not. And now that he’s in such an important position again, the gaffes are probably only set to increase.
