Jack Taylor/Getty Images Jeremy Hunt arrives for a Cabinet meeting chaired by British Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on June 5, 2018 in London, England. Jeremy Hunt has been appointed the new British foreign secretary, following Boris Johnson’s resignation over Theresa May’s Brexit plans. Hunt, the MP for South West Surrey, has served as Health Secretary since 2012. On Monday, high-profile Brexiteer and Conservative MP Johnson announced he was resigning from the Cabinet, following the agreement of a Brexit proposal that would see the UK retain close links to the European Union after exiting the organisation. Johnson, who favours a stronger break with the EU, said in his resignation letter that Britain is “truly headed for the status of [EU] colony.” 10 Downing Street confirmed Hunt’s appointment on Twitter, after he was seen visiting the Prime Minister’s official residence earlier in the evening. Matt Hancock MP, formerly the Culture Secretary, has been appointed the new Health Secretary. Attorney General Jeremy Wright, meanwhile, will be taking up the post of Culture Secretary. The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon @Jeremy_Hunt as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. — UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 9, 2018 Hunt supported Remain during the 2016 referendum on EU membership, but has since been critical of the European Commission’s approach to negotiations. This story is developing… Business Insider Emails & Alerts Site highlights each day to your inbox. Email Address Join Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.<doc-sep>LONDON: British Health Minister Jeremy Hunt will replace Boris Johnson as Foreign Minister, Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office said on Monday (Jul 9) following Johnson's dramatic resignation over the government's strategy for Brexit. "The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of ... Jeremy Hunt MP as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs," Downing Street said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Hunt, 51, has earned a reputation as someone who is not afraid of a challenge after six years in charge of Britain's notoriously unwieldy National Health Service. He has taken plenty of flak as health minister for some controversial reforms to change doctors' working hours and pay that prompted large-scale demonstrations. He previously served as Culture Minister between 2010 and 2012 when he successfully fought off accusations of improper dealings with Rupert Murdoch's media empire. A Politico profile of him last year concluded that Hunt "ticks the box to get the politically dangerous jobs done". Advertisement Advertisement After he managed to secure extra funding for the NHS at a time of squeezed budgets, The Guardian earlier this year called him the "great survivor" and suggested that he may have prime ministerial ambitions of his own. In Britain's EU membership referendum in 2016, Hunt was a leading advocate for staying in the bloc - the position of then prime minister David Cameron's government. That marks a clear difference from his predecessor as foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, a top Brexit campaigner. But Hunt has since said he now supports Brexit, criticising the EU's approach to negotiations as "arrogant" and "disappointing" in an interview with LBC radio last year. Advertisement The eldest son of Admiral Nicholas Hunt, who was Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 1985 to 1987, Hunt was brought up in the town of Godalming, southwest of London. He was educated at Charterhouse, a prestigious private school, and went on to study at Oxford University, where he first became active in politics as president of the Conservative Association and was a contemporary of Cameron's. After university, Hunt worked as a management consultant and later became an English language teacher in Japan, and now speaks Japanese fluently. Hunt had a successful career as an entrepreneur before entering parliament for the first time in 2005. He set up a public relations agency and an educational publisher, Hotcourses, which puts prospective students in touch with universities and colleges. Selling his shares in the firm made him a multimillionaire. After being elected to parliament he served as the Conservatives' culture spokesman during the Labour government before being named to the culture ministry. As minister he became responsible for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. He is married to Lucia, who is from China, and the couple have three children.<doc-sep>British prime minister Theresa May appointed Jeremy Hunt as foreign minister after Boris Johnson resigned in protest at the government's plans for a close trading relationship with the European Union London: British prime minister Theresa May appointed Jeremy Hunt as foreign minister on Monday after predecessor Boris Johnson resigned in protest at the government's plans for a close trading relationship with the European Union. The appointment of Hunt, a long-serving health minister, sees a close May ally replace the maverick Johnson, and could alter the Brexit balance of May's top ministerial team. While Johnson was one of the most high-profile Brexit campaigners, Hunt backed 'Remain' during the 2016 referendum campaign. Hunt told LBC Radio in October 2017, however, that he had changed his mind on the issue, in part because of what he said was disappointing "arrogance" in the EU's behaviour during negotiations. Last month, Hunt had said it was inappropriate for businesses like Airbus to issue warnings about moving jobs because of Brexit and that they should instead be getting behind May in her push for a good deal on leaving the EU. "Huge honour to be appointed foreign secretary at this critical moment in our country's history," he said in a tweet after his appointment. "Time to back our PM to get a great Brexit deal — it's now or never." Hunt, 51, had served as health minister for more than 5-1/2 years, the longest term in the history of the State-funded National Health Service, weathering doctors' strikes, public discontent with funding levels and other challenges. Hunt said it was a "massive wrench" for him to leave the department, adding, "I know some staff haven't found me the easiest Health Sec." Matt Hancock replaced Hunt as health secretary, while Attorney General Jeremy Wright was appointed as minister of digital culture, media and sport, Hancock's old job. May's office said Geoffrey Cox would be the new attorney general.<doc-sep>Dominic Raab’s rise to the Cabinet comes despite suggestions that the new Brexit secretary enjoyed a distinctly chilly relationship with Theresa May. Mr Raab is one of the staunchest Brexiteers on the Conservative benches, calling for EU withdrawal long before the referendum. A lawyer by training, and a black belt in karate, the ambitious 44-year-old looked set for a swift rise up the ministerial ranks after his election as MP for Tory safe seat Esher and Walton in 2010. But a series of controversies held back his elevation, with Mrs May taking particular offence at his description of some feminists as "obnoxious bigots" in a 2011 online article in which he attacked the "equality bandwagon" and said that men were getting "a raw deal". Mrs May, who was then minister for equalities as well as home secretary, responded within days with a fierce slapdown in the House of Commons, telling him that his comment was "not the way forward (to) get away from gender warfare". He was appointed civil liberties minister in the Ministry of Justice following David Cameron's election victory in 2015. In 2017, he was branded "offensive" by then Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron after telling a radio interviewer that "the typical user of a food bank is not someone that's languishing in poverty, it's someone who has a cash flow problem".<doc-sep>
Jeremy Hunt, the current health secretary for the United Kingdom, has been named the country's new foreign secretary after Boris Johnson resigned earlier Monday. Prime Minister Theresa May announced Hunt's new role in a tweet, adding that the queen had approved the change. "The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon @Jeremy_Hunt as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs," May's office tweeted. The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon @Jeremy_Hunt as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. — UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 9, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Hunt has served in British parliament since 2005. He has served as health secretary since 2012. He was named foreign secretary hours after Boris Johnson resigned, citing issues with May's Brexit policies. The BBC reported that Johnson said in his resignation letter that May has put off decisions about how Britain will leave the European Union, warning that "we appear to be heading for a semi-Brexit, with large parts of the economy still locked in the EU system, but with no UK control over that system." Johnson's resignation came shortly after David Davis, who served as the secretary for the Britain's exit from the European Union, stepped down from his post. The tumult in the U.K. comes days before President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE is set to visit the country for the first time since taking office. The White House said Monday that the trip will move forward as planned, despite the changes in British leadership. “The President continues to look forward to his working visit with the Prime Minister on July 13, and further strengthening the U.S.-U.K. special relationship," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.