Anji Hunter, Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch

The Right Honourable The Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch
Hunter in 2013
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 February 2025 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	Angela Margaret Jane Hunter 1955 (age 69–70) Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya
Nationality	Scottish
Spouses	Nick Cornwall ​ (m. 1980)​ Adam Boulton ​ (m. 2006)​
Alma mater	University of Brighton
Occupation	Public relations advisor

Angela Margaret JaneHunter, Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch (born 29 July 1955) is a Scottish public relations advisor. She is noted for her close partnership with former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Early life

Hunter was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her father, Major Arthur John Hunter,, was a rubber plantation manager, awarded MBE for his service with the Special Operations Executive in Burma during the Second World War.

Hunter was educated at St Leonards School in St Andrews, Scotland, ^[1] and St. Clare's, Oxford sixth form college. She first met Tony Blair while still in Scotland, at the age of 15. ^[2]

She gained a first in History and English from the University of Brighton.

Career

After graduating in 1987, Hunter began working for Tony Blair, now an MP, as his political assistant. ^[1] She became Director of Government Relations for Blair's government in 1997, ^[1] and was described as "the most influential non-elected person in Downing Street". ^[2] Of her role and contribution to the New Labour administration, Blair wrote in his memoir: "You underestimated her at your peril. She had perhaps the most naturally intuitive political instinct of anyone I ever met, was very, very clever, and could be ruthless beyond any of us, if she felt it necessary to protect me or the project." ^[3] In his biography of Blair, Anthony Seldon argued "Hunter's greatest service to Blair was to help him to grow into the role, first of aspirant leader, then party leader, then Prime Minister. There is no higher service a friend can offer than to help one to become independent." ^[4]

In 2001 Hunter left Downing Street to become Director of Communications at the oil and gas company BP in 2002. ^[5] In 2009 she was appointed Director of External Affairs for Anglo American plc. ^[6] She is a board member of the Snowdon Trust, founded by the Earl of Snowdon, which provides grants and scholarships for students with disabilities. ^[7] She is the founding Director and now a Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and serves on the Board of the Birmingham Business School. ^[8] She is a member of the Commonwealth Observers Group.

In 2013 Hunter joined the international public relations and marketing consultancy Edelman as a senior adviser, where she helps promote senior women in business. ^{[9] [10]}

In December 2024, it was announced that Hunter had been nominated for a peerage and would be joining the House of Lords as a Labour life peer as part of the 2024 Political Peerages. ^[11] She was created Baroness Hunter of Auchenreoch, of Edzell in the County of Angus on 5 February 2025. ^[12]

Personal life

Hunter married the landscape gardener Nick Cornwall in 1980. ^[1] The couple had two children. In July of 2002 it was reported that Hunter was in a relationship with the political editor of Sky News Adam Boulton. Hunter and Boulton both divorced their partners ^{[13] [14]} and married in 2006. ^[15]

References

1. "Blair's closest aide resigns". BBC News Online. 8 November 2001. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
2. Julia Langdon "Profile: Anji Hunter, Blair's Other Woman", The Observer, 1 April 2001
3. Blair, Tony (2010). A Journey. Random House. ISBN   978-0-09-192555-0.
4. Seldon, Anthony (2004). Blair: The Biography. Free Press. ISBN   9780743232128.
5. "Anji Hunter quits No 10". The Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2001. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
6. "Anglo American appoints Anji Hunter as Group Head of Government and Social Affairs". 26 May 2009.
7. "Our board". The Snowdon Trust. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
8. "Advisory Board". Birmingham University. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
9. Mattinson, Alec (25 July 2013). "Tony Blair's former comms chief Anji Hunter to join Edelman". PR Week. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
10. "Anji Hunter: In some ways I'm sorry because we women made it look like it was all easy - and it really isn't". Evening Standard. London. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
11. "UK Gov, Press Release, Political Peerages December 2024".
12. "No. 64654". The London Gazette . 11 February 2025. p. 2466.
13. Martin, Nicole (15 July 2002). "Woman who chose Blair's ties leaves family for Sky man". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
14. Trelford, Donald (17 July 2002). "Downing Street's heavy breathers". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
15. Chittenden, Maurice; Elliott, John (23 July 2006). "Adam and Anji's power wedding". London: The Sunday Times . Retrieved 7 May 2011.^{[ dead link ‍]}