Hunt wrote a biography of Friedrich Engels,The Frock-Coated Communist:The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels,which was published in May 2009 by Penguin Books.[16] For the book,Hunt researched at German and Russian libraries and begins with an account of his own visit to the city of Engels in Russia. The biography received a number of favourable reviews,including one from Roy Hattersley,the former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party,in The Observer.[17]
Hunt's book Ten Cities That Made an Empire was published by Allen Lane in 2014.[20] It was dubbed a "lively study of imperial outposts" by the historian Robert Service,writing for The Guardian.[21]
Hunt was selected to contest the constituency of Stoke-on-Trent Central on 1 April 2010,succeeding Labour's outgoing MP,Mark Fisher.[24][25] Because the candidacy was filled just before the election,the shortlist was drawn up by Labour's ruling National Executive Committee selection panel,with none on the shortlist local to Stoke-on-Trent. This led to the secretary of the Constituency Labour Party,Gary Elsby,standing against Hunt as an independent candidate in protest.[26][27] Despite the controversy of being "parachuted in" to the district,Hunt was elected with 38.8% of the vote.[28] Although the election was the constituency's closest-fought contest in decades,Hunt still had a majority of 5,566 over his nearest rival.[29]
In February 2014,Hunt crossed an authorised University and College Union picket line at Queen Mary University of London to teach his students about "Marx,Engels and the Making of Marxism",defending himself on the grounds that although he was not a member of the union,he supported the right to strike and picket by those who had been ballotted.[31] He was strongly criticised by West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson,who described Hunt's behaviour as "preposterous".[32]
Hunt was re-elected in May 2015 with a majority of 5,179.[33] Hunt ran a hapless bid for the leadership of the Labour party but dropped out after less than a week after he was nowhere near gathering the 35 nominations from MPs he needed to stand. On 12 September 2015,it became known he was leaving the shadow cabinet following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader because of their "substantial political differences",as Hunt told the Press Association.[34]
Speaking of his constituency,Hunt said that "The key to helping manufacturing is investing in education and schools and also selling Stoke nationally and internationally as a place to invest."[39] He also criticised the local council's decision "to try to obliterate the past out and sort of 'cleanse',removing the old bottle ovens and other relics".[40] He instead believed that the city's reputation as a quality pottery maker should be exploited. He said he could better serve his constituency were he to become a Government Minister.[40]
Hunt was accused in February 2015 of implying in a BBC Question Time discussion on teachers without qualifications that nuns do not make good teachers. His comments were criticised by Conservative MPs and by the Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. Hunt stated that he did not mean to cause offence to nuns.[41]
In 2014,he proposed that private schools should be required to form "partnerships" with local state schools if they wanted to keep their charitable status.[42]
In February 2017,Hunt became the Director of the V&A.[44] In this role he has advocated for the necessity for creative subjects to be taught in state schools,fearing that designer jobs are considered 'only for the posh.'[45]
In 2020,the V&A will stage the largest exhibition of Iranian art outside of Iran,called 'Epic Iran'.[46] But crisis in the Middle East may make some of the items unavailable.[47] Hunt,when asked to comment,said that the exhibition was still likely to go ahead,but,in an article for The Art Newspaper,admitted that "some of the loans might now be less forthcoming and sponsorship more of a challenge."[48]
In June 2023,Hunt ordered the removal of two books on gender and sexual orientation,as well as a poster by the charity Stonewall that read "Some people are trans,get over it!",from the Young V&A,ahead of the museum's reopening.[49] The V&A Staff LGBTQ Working Group and trade unions PCS and Prospect opposed the removals. Union representatives appealed the decision in a meeting with Hunt,who rejected their request to have the items returned to the museum.[49][50][51][52]
Hunt has been vocal in his support of the Sackler family,the American billionaire family linked to the opioid crisis. In 2019 he defended the family's contributions to the museum,refused to remove their name from the museum's courtyard and said "we're proud to have been supported by the Sacklers."[53] In 2022 the museum reversed course and removed the name.[54]
Personal life
Hunt is married to Juliet Thornback with whom he has one son and two daughters;they live in London.[55] He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.[56]
Bibliography
The English Civil War:At First Hand (2002,Weidenfeld &Nicolson, ISBN029782953X)
Building Jerusalem (2004, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN0297607677)
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell (Introduction by Tristram Hunt) (2004, Penguin Modern Classics, ISBN0141187697)
The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels (2009, ISBN0713998520) (US title: Marx's General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels, ISBN9780805080254)
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels (Introduction by Tristam Hunt) (2010, Penguin Modern Classics, ISBN9780141191119)
Ten Cities That Made an Empire (2014) (US title: Cities of Empire: The British Colonies and the Creation of the Urban World, Metropolitan Books, ISBN9780805093087)
The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood (2021, Macmillan, ISBN9781250128348)
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