Former health secretary Matt Hancock has Tory whip suspended after signing up for I’m A Celebrity

Matt Hancock has had the Tory whip suspended after it emerged he would be appearing on the new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

The former health secretary’s impending stint in the jungle was deemed “serious enough” by the Conservatives to suspend him from the party.

Chief whip Simon Hart said: “Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect.”

Hancock is currently a backbencher, having served in the Cabinet during the Covid pandemic.

He resigned as health secretary after it was shown he breached social distancing restrictions in an embrace with a colleague, Gina Coladangelo, in his office.

According to a political ally of Hancock, he is seizing an “incredibly opportunity” to appear on the ITV show because he “doesn’t expect to serve in Government again”.

They said the show’s producers have agreed with the MP for West Suffolk that his constituents can communicate with him on “urgent” matters while he is in the jungle.

“I’m A Celeb is the most watched show on TV,” they said.

“Matt doesn’t expect to serve in Government again, so it’s an incredible opportunity for him to engage with the 12 million Brits who tune in every single night.

“Matt has told the whips in Parliament and he will use his time in the jungle to promote his dyslexia campaign.

“Matt has an excellent team working with him in West Suffolk, but producers have agreed that he can communicate with them if there’s an urgent constituency matter.”

Hancock’s decision to appear on the show has been criticised by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK campaign group.

They said: “Matt Hancock isn’t a ‘celebrity’, he’s the former health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules.

“The fact that he is trying to cash in on his terrible legacy, rather than showing some humility or seeking to reflect on the appalling consequences of his time in Government says it all about the sort of person he is.

“Our families were ripped apart by Matt Hancock’s actions, and turning on the TV to see him being paraded around as a joke is sickening.

“If he had any respect for bereaved families, he would be sharing his private emails with the Covid Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV. Then again, perhaps if those emails came to light no TV station would touch him with a barge pole.

“ITV should do the decent thing and remove him from the programme.”

Political opponents also criticised the decision.

SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “It speaks volumes that Matt Hancock would rather be stranded in a remote jungle eating kangaroo testicles than spend a moment longer on the Tory benches at Westminster, as Rishi Sunak’s government lurches from one crisis to another.”

Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “To be fair to Matt Hancock, I’d sooner eat wallaby anus than be a Tory MP too.”

Other political figures to have appeared on the show include former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who appeared in the 2017 series.

MPs Nadine Dorries and Lembit Opik have also appeared, as has Boris Johnson’s father Stanley Johnson.