FRESH from winning through the Tory Party ballots to go head to head with Boris Johnson in the race to become the next Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt was busy drumming up support last Friday evening from the local party faithful.

Mr Hunt stressed his determination to improve Farnham’s traffic problems during the Surrey Conservative Association dinner at Bramley Golf Club.

The event turned into something of a media frenzy when a BBC Panorama crew, headed by deputy political editor John Pienaar, joined other media outlets wanting to grill the No10 hopeful.

The day before, in the ballot to decide the final two contenders, Mr Hunt had beaten his nearest rival Michael Gove by 77 votes to 75 but was still 93 votes behind Boris Johnson.

Adamant he could and would win the majority of votes from Conservative Party members who will now choose their party’s new leader, Mr Hunt said: “I am the outsider and I’m going to win this by putting arguments to the British people that this is a moment where it’s not in the end about personality.

“It’s about a Prime Minister who is going to make the right judgments for our country at a very perilous time. I believe I am that person and I believe I can win that argument.”

Asked by the Herald what pressing local issues might be on Mr Hunt’s ‘to do’ list, he said he would have to be careful not to “over favour” his constituency, but added: “Certainly for the people of Farnham the transformation of the town centre is something I would always prioritise whatever I do next in politics.

“Farnham is the biggest town in my constituency and traffic is the biggest problem and I wouldn’t want to be MP there for a long period of time without putting my heart and soul into trying to improve that issue.”

Asked how being educated at Charterhouse had helped prepare him for ‘the big job’, Mr Hunt said he had many happy days at school but he had “always felt troubled” that many people had not had the same opportunities.

He said one of his biggest priorities as PM would be to improve the standard of state schools. His aim is for the Conservative Government to abolish illiteracy within a generation.

Following a series of hustings events, 160,000 Tory Party members will cast their votes, with the new leader due to be announced the week beginning July 22.