Hunt considered quitting over BSkyB

Published on 16/07/2012 00:00

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he considered quitting over his handling of Rupert Murdoch’s takeover bid for BSkyB.

Mr Hunt was forced to accept the resignation of his special adviser Adam Smith after emails and texts released to the Leveson Inquiry revealed his close contacts with a lobbyist working for Mr Murdoch’s News Corp media empire.

Mr Hunt disclosed yesterday that he had considered his own position but had decided to stay as he’d done nothing improper in his handling of the bid. “In the end I thought the most important thing for the public was the integrity of the bid and the fact that I acted impartially and followed independent advice,” he said.