Jeremy Hunt admits he 'thought about quitting'

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.

Interviewed today on BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hunt disclosed that he had also considered his own position but had decided to stay on as he had done nothing improper in his handling of the bid.

“You think about these things, but 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.

“I thought it was very important that I stayed to make the case so that people understood that under huge pressure that the most important thing the Government got right.”

PA