Jeremy Hunt Takes On London Olympics Portfolio

(ATR) The job of delivering the London Olympics for the new British government is handed to Jeremy Hunt, picked by David Cameron to serve as Secretary of State in the re-named Department of Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

Hunt, 43, the Conservative Member of Parliament for South West Surrey, was named to the post Wednesday by Cameron, who himself took over as Prime Minister the day before.

Hunt succeeds outgoing Labour Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary.

Hunt will also take a seat in the policy-forming Cabinet.

Hugh Robertson, who had been believed to be in line to take the Olympics portfolio, is now expected to take over as sports minister in Britain’s new Liberal - Conservative coalition government. Robertson has served as shadow sports minister for the past four years.

"When David Cameron asked me to do the job just an hour ago, he said to me, ‘Concentrate on those Olympics, they are really, really important', said Hunt Wednesday afternoon following his first-ever visit to 10 Downing St.

"The 2012 Olympics are the most important thing we will be doing as a department, and I think possibly a seminal moment in this new government after all the doom and gloom we are facing on the economic front," he said.

"David has always felt that the 2012 Olympics are going to be an amazing opportunity for the UK, and really what we want to do is to use the 2012 Olympics to get more young people playing sport. We think it will be a wonderful national occasion, but if we can use it to get more teenagers playing sport, then we will have something that will last a generation," said Hunt.

In common with the efforts of Britain’s politicians to achieve consensus after no single party won an outright majority in last week’s general election, Hunt was gracious towards the Olympic achievements of his political predecessors.

"I think Labour must get some credit for the fact that they won the Olympics with the help of Seb Coe, who was very important.

"So they’ve entrusted us with a very, very precious jewel for the future of the country and we really want to make it work.

"I think that in terms of the construction of the facilities, and the teams that have been put in place to run the Games, it is going very well.

"The two questions that will certainly be taking up some of my time is first of all security, which is obviously going to be a huge challenge, and secondly, how do we create an Olympic legacy in our schools?"

Hunt will also be looking at ways to lower spending on the Olympics as Cameron tries to make $90 billion in cuts across government.

Hunt, speaking on BBC TV, said that his new department's budget, and government spending on the Olympics, would not be safe from the public spending cuts which the new administration is determined to make to address Britain's national debt.

Hunt said that his department is looking to make immediate cuts in spending of around $90 million.

"I have had discussions with civil servants in my department today, one of the first things I did, to find how we can best find those savings without affecting the front-line services for which we are responsible," Hunt said.

"Olympic money is not protected, none of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's budgets are protected, and we're looking at all of them and saying, 'Can we save this money without affecting our core services?'"

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe has sent a letter congratulating Hunt and is quoted in the Daily Telegraph welcoming the new minister.

"I am delighted with Jeremy’s appointment and look forward to working with him to deliver a great Games in two years’ time," is Coe’s quote in the newspaper.

Written by Steven Downes

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