Staff writer Daisy Eastlake on MP Matt Hancock’s appearance Down Under and the impact this is having back here in the UK.
For those not raised consuming slightly bizarre British television, the concept of a show in which celebrities are covered in gunk and made to eat the obscene parts of animals might seem like some kind of odd fever dream. I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here is a television show which does just that; and this year, the lineup controversially includes Matt Hancock, MP for West Suffolk and former Health Secretary (until he got caught breaking Covid-19 regulations by having an extra-marital affair with his secretary, Gina Coladangelo). Matt Hancock has claimed that his appearance is justified because “he must go where the people are – particularly those who are politically disengaged”, and that his trek 10,000 miles away from his constituency is in no way different to when MPs go on “a foreign visit, which happens all the time”.
Unsurprisingly, this information has not been well received. Matt Hancock had the Conservative whip suspended in early November, as colleagues expressed outrage that Mr Hancock was appearing on the show during a sitting parliamentary session. Simon Hart, the Chief Whip of the Conservative party, announced that “following a conversation with Matt Hancock, [he has] considered the situation and believe[s] this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect”. Andy Drummond – deputy chair of the West Suffolk Conservative Association & close colleague of Hancock’s – related with many of the British public in “looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis. You can quote me on that.”
Negative responses have also come from across the benches. “There is something deeply unpleasant about the former Health Secretary playing around in the jungle when his constituents are facing a cost of living crisis and long Covid sufferers are looking for answers from the inquiry”, tweeted Chris Bryant, Labour MP for the Rhondda constituency in Wales. This is a sentiment shared with many inside Hancock’s constituency and across the country – ITV have received in the region of 1,100 Ofcom complaints about the MPs appearance on the show. Campaigners have also made outraged statements about the casting, most notably the campaign groups Covid Bereaved Families for Justice and 38 Degrees flying a 35-foot-long banner over the Australian jungle with the slogan, “Covid bereaved say get out of here!”. It can also not be forgotten that Matt Hancock is receiving a pretty healthy paycheque for his three-week stint on primetime ITV2 broadcasting – The Sun are reporting that he’s being paid in the region of £400k, on top of his £82k ministerial salary. Although Mr Hancock has pledged to donate some of this to the St Nicholas hospice in Suffolk, it is not the full amount, which won’t be confirmed until the register of member’s interests is released.
Hancock has not gotten off lightly within the jungle either. Anyone keeping up to date with the show will know that contestants have been quick to share their opinions on the MPs arrival. Boy George, English singer and frontman of popular 1980s pop band Culture Club, has appeared especially uncomfortable. “At the beginning of the pandemic, my mum was in hospital… I thought she was going to die”, shared Boy George when Hancock first entered as a late arrival. He stated, “I feel like, I don’t want to be sitting here like I’m having fun with [Matt Hancock]. It’s difficult for me because, you know, had something happened, if my mum had [died], I wouldn’t be here now. I would have gone when he walked in.” Charlene White, presenter of ITV News, refused to share access to the VIP area with Hancock, worrying that it would spoil her journalistic integrity after her stint on the show. Whilst quizzing him on his motivations for joining the show, she was quick to remind Hancock that “we’ve had stability for all of five minutes Matt!”
But this year’s I’m A Celebrity is not the first case of politicians appearing on British reality television. Earlier this year Matt Hancock again appeared on screens across the nation, but this time on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins. He’s also not the first sitting MP to enter the Australian jungle for ITV; both Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid Bedfordshire, and Lembit Öpik, MP for Montgomeryshire, have made cameos. Bargain Hunt Famous Finds, Come Dine With Me, Celebrity Big Brother, Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing on Ice, and The Masked Singer have all cast politicians into their lineups over the years. The difference this time is that there has been a whole pandemic, over 200,000 deaths, an extramarital workplace affair, a resignation, and a conduct inquiry between Matt Hancock’s political era and his TV appearance. To the British people, the pain of these news headlines is not that easily forgiven. It will take more than a few witchetty grubs and portions of rice and beans for Matt Hancock to be favoured again by the UK electorate.
