Jeremy Hunt accused of using his first trip to Africa to boost his Tory Leadership bid
Wearing a helmet and life jacket, the Foreign Secretary took a James Bond photo opportunity aboard a Royal Marines boat
JEREMY HUNT has been accused of using his first trip to Africa as Foreign Secretary to boost his Tory leadership campaign.
Wearing a helmet and lifejacket, he took the helm of a Royal Marines boat in a photo opportunity more like a scene from a Bond film than a ministerial outing.
He was also pictured in shades next to a deck-mounted gun on board a Royal Navy vessel off the coast of West Africa.
And Mr Hunt – one of the front runners to succeed Theresa May - posted online a presidential-style photograph of his arrival in Senegal with his wife Lucia.
Showing off his language skills, he also wrote about his itinerary in French on Twitter.
Last night Tom Brake MP, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesman on international trade, told The Sun: “Jeremy Hunt should be in England to face the music at the local elections - not stocking up on photos for his inevitable leadership campaign at taxpayers’ expense.”
Mr Hunt is on a tour of five African countries this week to “set out the stall” for the UK after Brexit.
He is targeting new trade and diplomacy links as well as launching an English language programme in areas where French and Portuguese is spoken.
His eye-catching turn at the wheel of the Royal Navy’s Rigid Inflatable Boat yesterday come after a series of comments that have fuelled leadership speculation.
He branded Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a Marxist who would destroy the economy, claimed he was different to Boris Johnson as he had “a big job to do”, and gave an interview in which he said he would run the country differently to Mrs May.
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