Hancock’s TV success puts Tories in dilemma

Conservative associations are clamouring for dinner and fundraising appearances from Matt Hancock, according to MPs, despite Hancock no longer holding the Tory whip because of his I’m A Celebrity … appearance.

Multiple Conservative MPs said they had enquiries from their associations to book Hancock for the so-called “rubber chicken circuit” of talks given at fundraising events and local party dinners where cabinet ministers are hot tickets.

The potential fundraising pull of Hancock for the party is likely to be an interesting dilemma for party chiefs, after the whip was withdrawn from the former health secretary, who technically sits as an independent.

“We’ve been surprised and delighted by the number of approaches Matt’s had. There are only so many evenings in a week,” said a spokesperson for Hancock.

His 18 days in the Australian jungle for the ITV show saw Hancock win over new fans and come third in the competition but it also prompted his suspension from the parliamentary party and criticism by colleagues including Rishi Sunak.

The prime minister said he was “very disappointed” in his colleague’s decision to leave behind his constituents to appear on the reality show for three weeks.

MPs who had been deeply scornful of the decision by Hancock to join the show admitted they had softened towards him.

One MP whose local party has asked to see Hancock said: “Perhaps it is a bit out of touch to say that politicians can’t use this kind of device to connect with the public. I think colleagues are likely to have calmed down once he returned.”

Party sources said Conservative campaign headquarters was likely to be “relaxed” about Hancock’s appearance at fundraising dinners, even if the whip had not yet been restored.

Hancock returned to the UK in time for the serialisation of his book, Pandemic Diaries, in which he asked the public for “forgiveness” over his breaking Covid rules during his affair with Gina Coladangelo. He told Mail Plus the fallout of the revelation of his affair had been “absolutely horrific, especially for Gina”, adding:“I’ve had an absolute bucket of shit poured over my head.”

He still claims he went on the show to close the gap between the public and politicians, despite initially stating he wanted to raise awareness of dyslexia, a condition he was only shown mentioning on the show a handful of times.

Hancock also claimed Sir Chris Whitty had told him two months before the first lockdown that Covid could kill as many as 820,000 people in the UK as part of a “reasonable worst-case scenario”. However he said that when he passed on the warning to fellow ministers at a Cabinet meeting three days later, the reaction was “shrug shrug” as they did not really believe it.

The former cabinet minister stressed in his interview with Mail Plus that he was not asking for forgiveness over his handling of the pandemic, as he “woke up every single morning” determined to do his best in “impossible” circumstances.

Hancock has already filmed another reality TV show – Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. He was paid £45,000 for the show, which he declared on the MPs’ register of interests, but it attracted less controversy for being filmed when parliament was in recess in late September.

The Lib Dems have tabled a parliamentary motion calling for parliamentary rules to be updated to prevent MPs from taking part in reality TV programmes abroad while parliament is sitting. The early day motion also asks MPs give up their regular salary during the time they aren’t in parliament.

The Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said of Hancock: “If he wants to be a celebrity then he needs to get out of here.”