And Hunt’s prospects in his constituency look just as fragile if the polls are to be believed. The South West Surrey seat, comfortably held by Hunt at the last election, is now a target for the Lib Dems. The level of anger toward the government was evident among some of Hunt’s constituents Thursday, even though they live in one of the country’s least deprived areas. “We are in crisis. Most of my family have used food banks at least once or twice this year,” Kelly Clarke, 38, said shortly after the chancellor’s speech in the Commons ended. “Everyone is in crisis, [the price of] everything goes up. With the country in recession, we are screwed. In my eyes, it’s “feed the rich, starve the poor.” Colin Coleridge, 61, a former recovery coach for people dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, said: “The economy is just going wild. There seems to be more crime because people can’t get what they need to live. They cannot afford to eat. The standard of living is falling. Living standards are getting worse for young people. Growing up, they don’t have the opportunity.” Colin Coleridge: “Growing up, [young people] they don’t stand a chance.” Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian A woman who had recently left university said she was going to start a job in London. The woman, who asked not to be named, said she would have to swallow living with her parents and brave a three-hour commute to work because the cost of housing in the capital was so high. The state of public services was also a source of concern. Dave and Cathy Allen, pensioners who live in Dorset and were visiting their daughter and grandchild in Godalming, bemoaned the increasing difficulty of seeing a doctor. “You call if you want an appointment and sometimes it’s three weeks,” Kathy, 62, said. Where did each place the blame for the country’s economic woes? Primarily with the government, they said. Hunt was one of several senior Tories recently identified as being at serious risk of losing their seats at the next general election. A Trade Union Conference poll taken at the end of Liz Truss’ premiership suggested a landslide victory for Labor nationally, with Hunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Therese Coffey among then-cabinet ministers in trouble. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Kelly Clark: “In my eyes, it’s feed the rich, starve the poor.” Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian In normal times, Hunt’s majority of nearly 9,000 would seem quite safe. But these are not normal times. Coleridge gave Hunt a 50-50 chance of keeping his place. Clark said she was unlikely to vote at all. Charlotte Smith, 47, who works in accountancy, said she believed Hunt and Rishi Sunak were trying to distance themselves from the failings of their Tory colleagues – a tactic she believed could still work. “They’re trying to make it sound really bad so that when their measures are put in place they can say ‘look what we did about that.’ He will try to take credit for any improvements,” he said of Hunt. “I’d be surprised if he lost because there are a lot of older voters who would vote for him here… I’d like to see the Tories get a bloody nose, for sure. But I’d be surprised if they lost here. There’s a bubble around here where there are too many people living very comfortably.”
