Jeremy Hunt deletes picture of spouse voting amid claims it might break voting guidelines

Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has deleted a photo of his wife’s postal ballot from social media amid claims it could be breaking voting rules.

Mr Hunt uploaded the post to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday that showed his wife with a pen hovering over the box with his name next to it. The Chancellor is contesting the Godalming and Ash constituency in Surrey.

The caption read: “Marriage safe…got the wife’s vote.” But he later removed the post as social media users flagged guidance from the Electoral Commission about sharing information about how somebody votes.

A spokesman for the election watchdog said: “Every voter has the right to vote in private. The secrecy of the ballot is fundamental to our voting process and is protected in law.

“The law allows a postal voter to take a picture of their own postal ballot paper and publicise it (including via social media). It is an offence to pressurise or induce a postal voter, or indeed any voter, to make their information available.

“It can also be an offence to obtain and share information about how someone else has voted. These laws are enforced by the police.”

The Chancellor is facing significant pressure from the Liberal Democrats in the redrawn constituency of Godalming and Ash at the General Election on July 4. He has represented South West Surrey since 2005, winning a majority of 8,817 in 2019.

Last week he said his seat was “too close to call” and that the Conservatives are not pretending that the party winning the election was “the most likely outcome”. Contesting Godalming and Ash are Mr Hunt, the Lib Dems‘ Paul Follows, Reform UK’s Graham Drage, Ruby Tucker of the Green Party, Labour’s James Walsh and Harriet Williams of the Women’s Equality Party.

The incident will bring yet more unwanted attention to the Tory campaign as the party continues to grapple with the ongoing election betting scandal. PM Rishi Sunak today denied that he had put a bet on the date of the General Election and insisted he was “not aware” of the Gambling Commission investigating any more Tory candidates.

But speaking to reporters in Edinburgh he said there were “limits” to what he could say as he faced questions about the unfolding scandal. He refused to say when he had first been made aware of a Gambling Commission probe.