Hancock’s hour

David Cameron has made clear where he thinks the future of the Conservative party lies. In his reshuffle last week, he brought 12 of the 2010 Tory intake into government. This chosen dozen are clearly on a fast track to the Cabinet.

The promotion of some of these newbies was a surprise. But one of them has been marked out for preferment since before he was even selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate. Matt Hancock’s head-start came from having demonstrated his talents as George Osborne’s chief of staff, working in the same offices as Cameron and Osborne throughout their time in opposition. In government, he has helped prepare Cameron for Prime Minister’s Questions. He is now a minister in two departments, in charge of the government’s skills agenda in both business and education.

Sitting at the head of a conference table in the Palace of Westminster, wearing a fashionable cross-hatched suit, a white shirt and a spotted tie, Hancock looks every inch the modern politician. An attendant press officer completes the look. The 33-year-old has the classic CV of a 21st-century minister: PPE at Oxford, a few years in a research job, then a stint working for a senior figure at Westminster who helped him get selected for a safe seat — his constituency predecessor is now sitting in the House of Lords.

When I ask how he responds to the criticism that today’s Tory party is full of career politicians who have little experience outside politics and are too young, he replies: ‘Well, I remind people that Winston Churchill is widely regarded as one of the finest statesmen our country has ever seen … and likewise William Pitt became prime minister in his twenties, and both of these men achieved great heights over their careers.’