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Jeremy Hunt pockets £14m through sale of course search website

Health Secretary makes a mint. Good for him, right?

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has become one of the UK's richest politicians following the sale of his business which runs course-listing websites.

London-based Hotcourses, in which Hunt has a 48 per cent stake, provides marketing services for universities, and course comparison sites for potential students. It today announced that it had entered into a £30.1m agreement which would see it purchased by Australian firm IDP Education.

Pocketing more than £14m (before tax), Hunt stated he was "incredibly proud to have set up a successful business, even prouder of the current Hotcourses team who have taken it from strength to strength, and intend to use a significant proportion of the proceeds to campaign for causes I believe in when I eventually leave frontline politics."

Hunt had stepped down from his role as a director of Hotcourses Limited in 2009, although he retained his shares in the business and has collected several million pounds in dividends since founding the company.

The windfall has brought with it some criticism of his policies as Health Secretary, with the British Red Cross declaring that there was "a humanitarian crisis" in the NHS this winter. Hunt has denied these claims. ®

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