Jeremy Hunt said £100,000 isn’t a huge salary, and people thought it was a bit rich – 15 gobsmacked responses

Episode 4,600,918 of ‘Out-of-touch Politicians’ features a hot take on earnings from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – the man who forgot he owned seven luxury properties in Southampton

BREAKING: £100,000 a year 'not a huge salary', chancellor claims https://t.co/t6hdW8pJvB

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 22, 2024

The comment came from a long post on Twitter/X, specifically this bit.

I spoke to a lady from Godalming about eligibility for the government’s childcare offer which is not available if one parent is earning over £100k.

That is an issue I would really like to sort out after the next election as I am aware that it is not huge salary in our area if you have a mortgage to pay.

He elaborated in an interview with Sky’s Trevor Phillips.

'A £100,000 salary doesn't go as far as you might think', says Chancellor @Jeremy_Hunt.@TrevorPTweets asks the Chancellor if he 'regrets saying £100,000 isn't a huge salary'.#TrevorPhillips https://t.co/fhIHlpTGAF

Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/nLw4sVci3v

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 24, 2024

We’re not sure anyone bought it.

1.

I am shocked at Jeremy Hunt's comments. I had no idea there were people who had to somehow get by on just £100k a year. https://t.co/SmBZVIREBt

— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) March 23, 2024

2.

Minimum wage, universal credit & Personal Independence Payments, meanwhile, go further than anyone deserves. And don’t get me started on the *real* victims of economic injustice: parents apparently unable to afford VAT on school fees… https://t.co/XpucVgwPi4

— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) March 24, 2024

3.

Newly qualified junior doctors earn less than a THIRD of this, @Jeremy_Hunt.

Why do you think 98% of them just voted – again – to keep on striking?

When you won’t even raise their starting salary from a pitiful £15 an hour? pic.twitter.com/S4MLJ71wro

— Dr Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) March 23, 2024

4.

Look everyone, I’m happy to take the short straw here, I’ll go out on a limb, I’ll take one for the team: I’ll have the salary of only £100k

— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) March 24, 2024

5.

I rarely mobilise my professional status. But as a Professor of Work and Employment, I can confidently say that £100k is a huge salary. It’s about 3 times the average UK salary. It’s taxed very differently but it’s still a huge salary. https://t.co/K5njD0I9hR

— Melanie Simms (@SimmsMelanie) March 23, 2024

6.

that was not, as I recall, the policy at his company HotCourses where an army of staff got by on less than £20,000 a year https://t.co/3VKLwJqJpt

— jonn elledge (@JonnElledge) March 22, 2024

7.

If you say ‘£100,000 isn’t a high salary in my area’, that isn’t the gotcha you think it is. It means you live in a rich area. https://t.co/qUga1cSBYg

— Prof Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) March 23, 2024

8.

To, Mr Hunt @Jeremy_Hunt.

If £100,000 per year is not a huge salary, then presumably you will be immediately raising Carers Allowance for those working full time on £76pw, because the work we do surely deserves a not huge salary rather than a nonexistent one.

Regards.#Carers https://t.co/G39NqPM95v

— Johanna Saunders (@JohannaSaunders) March 23, 2024

9.

There’s an argument for it being briefly illegal for anyone earning more than £100K a year to even talk to an MP. Their interests are probably being looked after fine. They’d survive. Wonder how the county would look after 5 years of MPs only talking to people on median £35K. https://t.co/LMgjg6UcS7

— Joel Morris (@gralefrit) March 22, 2024

10.

I wish I was paid not a huge salary… https://t.co/hHJ3WsuO3b

— Bryan Elwick (@Elwick70) March 23, 2024

11.

A salary of £100k puts you in the top 2%
of earners (so far more comfortable than most even with a large mortgage). https://t.co/Ayf2JkRO2i

— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) March 22, 2024

12.

When you dig down past all the specifics and nuances of policy, the real problem with this country today is that it is being run by people who fundamentally do not understand what it means to live in it https://t.co/KIA0kEeAwP

— Ryan Coogan (@theothercoogan) March 23, 2024

13.

The discourse moves with inflation: the £80k man from Question Time is now £100k man from Surrey https://t.co/kREJv2eTi1

— Duncan Robinson (@duncanrobinson) March 22, 2024

14.

‍Dear @Jeremy_Hunt
I offer you a challenge.

I will try to ‘survive’ on your salary (about to go up).

In return, you try surviving on my pension.

Deal?
I also promise to work the requisite number of hours too. https://t.co/F0itMEOTA4 pic.twitter.com/X4PBvGZddR

— ☕️Carol Hedges (also at @caroljhedges) (@riotgrandma72) March 23, 2024

14.

There are 3.7 million people in the UK who literally don't have enough money to feed themselves/their families -up more than half in just 3 years.

And @jeremy_hunt is worried about people on nearly 3 times average earnings… pic.twitter.com/s21w69W4gJ

— Jonathan Portes (@jdportes) March 23, 2024

15.

counterpoint: a lot of my problems would instantly be solved if I made 100k. Even if you just gave me a one off 100k. https://t.co/Z7W5ACchPi

— Sabrina (@sabstweets_) March 24, 2024

Maybe Hunt’s choice of words was the problem.

Purely on semantics, would you agree with my below list of increasing order of bigness? I’ve always wondered if these are pure synonym or if they refer to different things?

Big
Large
Huge
Massive
Enormous
Gigantic https://t.co/xNKIprtuz7

— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) March 22, 2024

Or maybe it’s him.

This is, I feel, an excellent time to remind people that Jeremy Hunt had a special sprung floor installed, in his own private ballroom at home, so he could practice his favourite dance – the lambada. https://t.co/CYuxmbt1Md pic.twitter.com/8e8H33PfmM

— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) March 22, 2024

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Source Sky News Image Screengrab