Matt Hancock suspended as Tory MP after joining I’m A Celebrity 2022

Ant and Dec are going to have an absolute field day this year. ‘Evening, former health minister…’

This one’s filed firmly under headlines we never thought we’d write.

In an incredible turn of events, the former health secretary Matt Hancock has reportedly been suspended as a Conservative MP after apparently agreeing to join the cast of I’m A Celebrity 2022, reports The Manc.

After numerous reports of the official lineup for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! 2022 began trickling in last week, the BBC has confirmed that Hancock will “swap representing his constituents at Westminster for eating bugs in the jungle” and we, for one, cannot wait to see what that looks like.

Former chief whip Simon Hart said the decision to join the reality TV show while still serving as an MP “is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect.”

The deputy chairman of his constituency’s Conservative Association seems to be more excited by the prospect of him joining the reality show.

Fair to say @MattHancock's local Conservative Association is unimpressed. Andy Drummond, deputy chairman (political) of West Suffolk Conservative Association, told @PA: "I’m looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis. Quote me. You can quote me that.”

— David Hughes (@DavidHughesPA) November 1, 2022

Meanwhile, others have been less impressed by the decision by ITV producers, with journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunt noting that “it says something when Matt Hancock has the whip removed more quickly over going on I’m A Celebrity than Chris Pincher did” over his sexual misconduct.

Many others echoed similar sentiments:

Once again perplexed by the rules of British politics, that dictate Matt Hancock loses the Tory whip for going on I'm a Celeb, but not for overseeing tens of thousands of needless deaths during the pandemic

— Sam Bright (@WritesBright) November 1, 2022

Sources close to West Suffolk representative state that he “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.” Hancock is apparently using his time in the jungle to promote his dyslexia campaign.

Trying to raise awareness for charity sounds great but he does realise he’s just going to be kept in as long as possible and made to do virtually every single trial, right?

Either way, many have been left angered by the decision to let yet another politician join a reality show when they are supposed to be serving the public, especially in times of struggle like the ongoing cost of living and energy crises.

But it shouldn’t be happening at all, ever. We shouldn’t be in any encouraging people to go into politics as a way of gaining a career in television or popular culture.

Politics is serious. People are starving, freezing and dying.

Fuck off. 2/2

— Adam Rowe (@adamrowecomedy) November 1, 2022

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Retired or not, the likes of Anne Widdecombe, George Galloway, Ed Balls and many more have appeared on the likes of Strictly Come Dancing and Big Brother, while the last Tory MP to appear on the British TV institution was former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who still remains an MP for Mid Bedfordshire.

Other members of the I’m A Celebrity 2022 cast confirmed so far include pop legend Boy George and recently retired Lionesses veteran, Jill Scott MBE.

You can see the full line-up here.

Feature Image- BBC