Why Matt Hancock signed up for I’m a Celeb

Matt Hancock has this morning had the whip suspended over his decision to appear on the new series of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. Less than an hour after the news broke that the former health secretary – who resigned over a breach of Covid rules through an extra-marital affair – plans to head to the jungle to appear on the primetime reality show, the new chief whip Simon Hart suspended the whip with immediate effect. Announcing the news, 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’.

Now this decision ought not to have come as a complete surprise to Hancock. There is precedent here. When Nadine Dorries became the first MP to appear on the show, she had the whip withdrawn by the then-chief whip Andrew Mitchell while on the series.