He was until March 2008 General Secretary of the Co-operative Party and is as of 2008 chief executive of the think tank Mutuo.
Another, New Mutualism: The Third Way (1998) by Peter Kellner, was a key piece of thinking in the early 'Third Way' phase of New Labour.
Making Healthcare Mutual, co-written by Hunt, Hazel Blears and Cliff Mills, called for a locally accountable NHS and underpinned the only successful amendment to the Act on foundation hospitals.
As general secretary, Hunt sat on the National Policy Forum of the Labour Party.
In early 2008, Hunt announced he would be stepping down as general secretary of the Co-operative Party in March 2008.