Matt Hancock

Matthew John David Hancock (born 2 October 1978) is a British politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January to July 2018, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2018 to 2021. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for West Suffolk since 2010. He is a member of the Conservative Party, but now sits in the House of Commons as an independent, having had the whip suspended since November 2022.

Hancock was born in Cheshire, where his family runs a software business. He studied for a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Exeter College, Oxford, and an MPhil in Economics at Christ's College, Cambridge. He was an economist at the Bank of England before serving as a senior economic adviser and later chief of staff to George Osborne. Hancock was first elected as the MP for West Suffolk in 2010, succeeding Richard Spring. He was re-elected as West Suffolk's MP in 2015, 2017, and 2019.

Hancock served as a junior minister at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2013 to 2015 and was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion from 2014 to 2015. He attended David Cameron's cabinet as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016. After Theresa May became Prime Minister following Cameron's resignation, Hancock was moved to the post of Minister of State for Digital and Culture. He was promoted to May's cabinet as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In July 2018, after the promotion of Jeremy Hunt to Foreign Secretary, Hancock replaced him as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. After May's resignation, Hancock stood in the Conservative Party leadership election to replace her, but withdrew shortly after the first ballot and subsequently endorsed Boris Johnson. After Johnson became Prime Minister, Hancock retained his position as Health Secretary in his cabinet.

Hancock's tenure as Health Secretary was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which he played a prominent role in the government's response to. Hancock oversaw efforts to procure personal protective equipment, as well as to expand COVID-19 testing and tracing, and also oversaw the early stage of the UK's vaccination programme. In June 2021, after it was shown that he had breached COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, Hancock resigned as Health Secretary and was succeeded by Sajid Javid. Following his resignation as Health Secretary, Hancock returned to the backbenches.

In November 2022, Hancock had the whip suspended after announcing he would be appearing as a contestant in the 22nd UK series of the survival reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', in which he finished in third place. On 7 December 2022, he announced his intention to stand down at the next general election.

Early life

Matthew John David Hancock was born on 2 October 1978 in Chester, Cheshire, to Michael Hancock and Shirley Hills (now Carter). Hancock has an older sister and a brother.

Hancock attended Farndon County Primary School, in Farndon, Cheshire, and the fee-paid King's School, Chester. He took A-levels in Maths, Physics, Computing and Economics. He later studied computing at the further education college, West Cheshire College. He studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and graduated with a first in philosophy, politics and economics, and later earned a MPhil degree in economics at Christ's College, Cambridge. Hancock became a member of the Conservative Party in 1999. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at university.

Early career

After university, Hancock briefly worked for his family's computer software company and for a backbench Conservative MP, before moving to London to work as an economist at the Bank of England, specialising in the housing market. In 2005, he became an economic adviser to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, later becoming Osborne's chief of staff.

Parliamentary career

Hancock was selected as the Conservative candidate for West Suffolk in January 2010. He narrowly won the contest, defeating Natalie Elphicke (a solicitor who later became MP for Dover), by 88 votes to 81 in the final ballot. He was elected as the constituency's MP at the 2010 general election with 24,312 votes, 13,050 votes ahead of Liberal Democrat candidate Belinda Brooks-Gordon. In June, Hancock was elected to the Public Accounts Committee. He served on this committee until November 2012. Hancock also served on the Standards and Privileges Committee from October 2010 and December 2012.

In 2011, Hancock became a member of the Free Enterprise Group, a group of Thatcherite Conservatives co-founded by Liz Truss. In January 2013, he was accused of dishonesty by '' Daybreak'' presenter Matt Barbet after claiming he had been excluded from a discussion about apprentices after turning up "just 30 seconds late". Hancock acknowledged on social media that he was running late, but said he turned up ahead of time for the interview and was unfairly blocked from going on set by producers. Barbet said Hancock knew he was "much more than a minute late" and he should have arrived half an hour beforehand to prepare for the interview.

In October 2013, Hancock joined the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as the Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise.

In June 2014, Hancock encouraged employers to become involved in offering more apprenticeships, allowing young people to learn and earn simultaneously.On 15 July 2014, Hancock was appointed to the position of Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. He also took on additional responsibilities as the Minister of State for Portsmouth. On 27 July, he announced protection from fracking for National Parks, seen as a method of reducing anger in Conservative constituencies ahead of the election. Interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 ''Today'' programme, he rejected the suggestion that fracking was highly unpopular but he was unable to name any village that backed it.

In his role as Minister of State for Energy, he was criticised for hiring a private jet with senior diplomatic officials to fly back from a climate conference in Aberdeen, where he signed a deal with the Mexican President to use British expertise in Mexico. A DECC spokesman said the chartered flight was organised to fit around diary commitments, and the conference was not about climate change, but it was a visit to a university and discussion about investment. Hancock was later criticised for accepting money from a key backer of climate change denial organisation Global Warming Policy Foundation. In October 2014, he apologised after retweeting a poem suggesting that the Labour Party was "full of queers", describing his actions as a "total accident".
Hancock became Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General on 11 May 2015. Hancock launched a new social mobility drive to promote diversity within the civil service, outlining his vision in a speech in February 2016. He headed David Cameron's "earn or learn" taskforce which aimed to have every young person earning or learning from April 2017. He announced that jobless 18- to 21-year-olds would be required to do work experience as well as looking for jobs, or face losing their benefits.In the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, Hancock supported the UK remaining within the EU.

Hancock moved to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as the Minister of State for Digital and Culture on 15 July 2016 after Theresa May became Prime Minister. As minister for digital policy, Hancock in June 2017 recommitted to a "full fibre" digital policy. This promised that 97% of the UK would enjoy "superfast broadband" at speeds of at least 24 megabits per second by 2020.

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

In August 2017, Hancock oversaw the strengthening of UK data protection law. As Digital Minister he announced people would have more control over their personal data and be better protected in the digital age.

On 8 January 2018, Hancock was appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in Theresa May's 2018 cabinet reshuffle, succeeding Karen Bradley. On his first day in the role he criticised the BBC for the amounts of pay its foreign journalists received, and said that some men at the corporation were paid "far more than equivalent public servants".

In early 2018, Hancock was the first MP to launch his own mobile app, which was meant as a social network for him to communicate with his constituents and give people updates in relation to his cabinet role. The head of privacy rights group Big Brother Watch called the app a "fascinating comedy of errors", after the app was found to collect its users' photographs, friend details, check-ins, and contact information. Hancock said his app collects data once consent has been granted by the user.

In May 2018, as Media Secretary, Hancock confirmed the highest stake on fixed odds betting terminals would be cut to £2, after Prime Minister May sided with him over the issue.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

May premiership

Following the appointment of Jeremy Hunt to the position of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Hancock was appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for England on 9 July 2018.

In November 2018, Hancock was criticised after appearing to endorse a mobile phone health app marketed by the subscription health service company Babylon in the ''Evening Standard''. Babylon allegedly sponsored the newspaper article. Justin Madders wrote to Theresa May accusing Hancock of repeatedly endorsing the products of a company that receives NHS funds for patients it treats, which contravenes ministerial guidelines. The ministerial code includes that ministers should not "normally accept invitations to act as patrons of, or otherwise offer support to, pressure groups or organisations dependent in whole or in part on Government funding".

In April 2019, Hancock, who had previously said the NHS would face "no privatisation on my watch", was criticised by Labour for allowing 21 NHS contracts worth £127 million to be tendered.

2019 Conservative Party leadership candidacy

After Theresa May announced her intention to resign as Prime Minister on 24 May 2019, Hancock announced his intention to stand for the Conservative Party leadership. During this campaign, Hancock opposed the prorogation of Parliament to deliver Brexit and called on his fellow leadership candidates to join him on 6 June 2019. He proposed a televised debate with other candidates. He withdrew from the race on 14 June shortly after winning only twenty votes on the first ballot. Following his withdrawal, he endorsed Boris Johnson for the role.

Johnson premiership

Hancock continued in his role as Health Secretary in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet. He supported the prorogation of parliament in 2019 by Johnson which he had previously opposed while running for the leadership of the Conservative Party earlier in the year. On 24 September the Supreme Court ruled that the prorogation was unlawful.

In a September 2019 ''Channel 4 News'' interview, Hancock was asked to respond to allegations that at a private lunch in 1999, Johnson had groped the leg of journalist Charlotte Edwardes under a table. Edwardes also claimed that Johnson did the same to another woman at the same private lunch. In his reply to the ''Channel 4 News'' question, Hancock said of Charlotte Edwardes, "I know Charlotte well and I entirely trust what she has to say. I know her and I know her to be trustworthy", a view shared by fellow Conservative MP Amber Rudd. Both Johnson and anonymous Downing Street officials denied the allegation.

In October 2019, Hancock was lobbied by former Prime Minister David Cameron and financier Lex Greensill to introduce a payment scheme. Hancock was implicated in the Greensill scandal as the payment scheme was later rolled out within the NHS.

In November 2019, Hancock publicly apologised to Bethany, a teenager diagnosed with autism, for being kept in solitary confinement in various psychiatric facilities. Hancock apologised "for the things that have gone wrong in her care" and said her case in particular was "incredibly difficult and complex", calling Bethany's case "heart-rending" and saying that he had insisted on "a case review of every single person in those conditions."

= COVID-19 pandemic

=

On 31 January 2020, COVID-19 was confirmed to have spread to the UK, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hancock said the Government was considering "some quite significant actions that would have social and economic disruption". After the Government gave strict social distancing advice which was defied by large numbers of people, Hancock took a stronger line than the prime minister on condemning those still socialising in groups and derided them as being "very selfish". The Government later implemented legislation banning such groups from forming.

On 27 March 2020, along with Boris Johnson, Hancock himself tested positive for COVID-19. He stayed in self-isolation with mild symptoms for seven days, before delivering an update on COVID-19 testing targets and on Government plans to write off £13.4 billion of NHS debt.

In April 2020, Hancock was criticised when it emerged that the target he had set for 100,000 daily COVID-19 tests had been met only by changing the method of counting, to include up to 40,000 home test kits which had been sent, but not yet completed. This change was challenged by the UK Statistics Authority and labelled a "Potemkin testing regime".

Doctors groups maintained that they helped deliver 45,000 masks to hospitals without sufficient supply at the beginning of the pandemic and that families of healthcare workers who died from Covid had expressed concerns about the protection they got. Early in the pandemic NHS staff were photographed with poorly fitting PPE and some made gowns themselves from bin bags. Doctors and MPs criticised Hancock for denying there was a problem.

On 5 April 2020, Hancock warned that all outdoor exercise in England could be banned in response to COVID-19 if people did not follow social distancing rules, saying: "So my message is really clear. If you don't want us to have to take the step to ban exercise of all forms outside of your own home then you've got to follow the rules and the vast majority of people are following the rules."

Hancock received criticism for perceived sexism after suggesting on 5 May 2020 that Labour MP and shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan change the "tone" of her comments. Allin-Khan, a doctor, had stated in Parliament a lack of testing was costing lives when Hancock suggested she should "take a leaf out of the Shadow Secretary of State's /nowiki>Jonathan_Ashworth's.html" ;"title="Jonathan_Ashworth.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jonathan Ashworth">/nowiki>Jonathan Ashworth's">Jonathan_Ashworth.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Jonathan Ashworth">/nowiki>Jonathan Ashworth'sbook in terms of tone".

On 15 August 2020, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Hancock was to merge Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace into a new body called the National Institute for Health Protection, modelled on the Robert Koch Institute. The new body, renamed as the UK Health Security Agency, was set up before autumn amid "a feared surge in coronavirus cases".

On 11 October 2020, Hancock denied breaching a 10 pm drinking curfew in the Smoking Room bar in the House of Commons, put in place because of the pandemic. Eight days later, the ''Daily Mirror'' published a photograph of him riding in his chauffeur-driven car without wearing a mask.

On 2 December 2020, Hancock incorrectly claimed that the MHRA's fast approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine was possible because of Brexit. The MHRA stated that it had followed an expeditious procedure allowed under EU legislation which was still in force in the UK during the transition period.In January 2021, shopping vouchers for families in need were reintroduced. On '' Good Morning Britain'', Hancock praised the Government for reintroducing the scheme, despite being repeatedly reminded by Piers Morgan that he had opposed it in Parliament.

On 19 February 2021, after a legal challenge by the Good Law Project, a High Court judge ruled that Hancock had acted unlawfully by handing out PPE contracts without publishing details in a timely way. A ruling released by the High Court stated: "There is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the secretary of state breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices (CANs) within 30 days of the award of contracts." The details were published within 47 days.

In April 2021, it was reported that Hancock had been given 20% of shares in Topwood Limited, a firm based in Wrexham which is owned by his sister and other close family members. The company specialises in secure storage, scanning and shredding of documents. It won a place on a " procurement framework" listing to provide services to NHS England in 2019, as well as contracts with NHS Wales. There has been no suggestion that Hancock intervened in the normal processes, and in April 2021 the company had not earned anything through the framework. Lord Geidt later produced a report on ministerial interests saying that the awarding of the contract to Topwood could be seen to "represent a conflict of interest" that should have been declared. Hancock responded by saying: "I did not know about the framework decision, and so I do not think I could reasonably have been expected to declare it."

In May 2021, the former Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings claimed, "tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die" during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic due to what he claimed to be "criminal, disgraceful behaviour" within Downing Street under the supervision of Hancock. Cummings also said that Hancock should have been fired as Health Secretary for "15 to 20" different things. Following his testimony, YouGov noted that more people in the general public thought Hancock should resign than stay in his post, despite questions over the accuracy of Cummings's statements. Prime Minister Johnson defended Hancock and his decision-making.

= Resignation

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On 25 June 2021, it was revealed that Hancock had breached COVID-19 social distancing restrictions with Gina Coladangelo, an adviser in the Department of Health and Social Care with whom he was having an extramarital affair, after CCTV images of him kissing and embracing her in his Whitehall office on 6 May were published in '' The Sun'' newspaper. The Government's guidelines allowed intimate contact with people from a different household only from 17 May. The previous year, Hancock had failed to declare he had appointed Coladangelo as an unpaid adviser at the department and later to a paid non-executive director role on its board, for which Coladangelo would earn between £15,000 and £20,000 annually from public funds. Coladangelo had become a close friend of Hancock after meeting him while they were both undergraduates at Oxford University.

Later that day on 25 June, Hancock said that he had "breached the social distancing guidelines in these circumstances" and apologised for "letting people down". Boris Johnson later said that he accepted the apology and considered the matter "closed". However, Hancock resigned on the evening of 26 June, stating "those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them", and he had not because of his "breaking the guidance". He was replaced as Health Secretary the same day by Sajid Javid.

Former Cabinet ministers Alan Johnson and Rory Stewart both said there had never been cameras in their offices during their time in Government, with Johnson saying: "I could never understand why there was a camera in the Secretary of State's office. There was never a camera in my office when I was Health Secretary or in any of the other five Cabinet positions." It was reported that the CCTV footage was leaked by a DHSC employee who opposed the Government's lockdown restrictions, and on 27 June it was confirmed that an internal investigation was undertaken by the department to find the culprit, for fear of future CCTV footage being leaked to states hostile to the UK, for the purposes of blackmail.

News of the scandal was met with a mixture of public anger and ridicule. The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group warned that Hancock's actions could undermine adherence to COVID-19 restrictions, similar to the Dominic Cummings scandal. Amanda Milling, Co-chairman of the Conservative Party, opined that Hancock's affair was a factor in the Conservative Party's failure to win the Batley and Spen by-election on 1 July.

On 15 July, investigators seized computers after searches at two homes in southern England, after the Information Commissioner's Office announced that it had set up an inquiry into the leak in the CCTV images.

On 29 July, the council of the second largest town in his constituency, Newmarket, passed a no-confidence vote against Hancock as its MP. Mayor Michael Jefferys cast the necessary vote to pass the motion.

According to the ''Independent'', Hancock faced severe criticism due to a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the NHS early in the pandemic, the award of contracts for supplying masks and the decision to transfer elderly patients to care homes without Covid testing. Hancock defended his handling of the pandemic and stated: "We suddenly needed masses more PPE and so did everybody else in the world."

Return to the backbenches

Following his resignation as Health Secretary, Hancock returned to the backbenches.

On 12 October 2021, Hancock announced his appointment as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa special representative for financial innovation and climate change, an unpaid position advising the Commission on the African economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Four days later, the United Nations announced on 16 October that the offer had been rescinded.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hancock welcomed seven Ukrainian refugees into his family home in Suffolk in May 2022 through the ''Homes for Ukraine'' scheme.

Pandemic Diaries'

In April 2022, it was announced that Hancock would publish his diaries during the COVID-19 pandemic called ''Pandemic Diaries'' with Biteback Publishing cowritten by Isabel Oakeshott. The royalties were planned to be donated to NHS charities. The book was to be released in December 2022.

The book was not based on a diary but was written after the fact based on Hancock's recollections as well his records of communications. It dismisses allegations that moving patients into care homes caused deaths arguing that the staff in care homes were the vector of disease. The book is critical of Dominic Cummings.

Reviews comment that the book presented too positive an image making Hancock seem unduly prescient with the benefit of hindsight arguing there may be elements of revisionism.

Gaby Hinsliff reviewing The Guardian said that there were kernels of truth about how politicians make decisions in the account but comments on how the book was written with the benefit of hindsight allowing Hancock to make himself seem prescient. Rod Dacombe writing in the i said that was absurd and devoid of literary flair. Adam Wagner, writing in Prospect magazine, said that the book had a focus on score settling and self-aggrandization but that there were some genuine relevations noting that more will be known when the UK Covid-19 Inquiry reports. Wagner argues Hancock's removal of exceptions for protest from proposed lockdown regulations on the grounds that protests could undermine public trust in measures and his criticism of protestors in the book are suggestive that protests were banned based on the political views of protestors, which Wagner thinks would likely constitute government overreach.

Appearance on ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''

On 1 November 2022, Hancock announced that he would be a contestant on the 22nd series of the reality television series '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'', filmed while Parliament is in session. Agreement was reached with the show's producers that Hancock could communicate with his constituency team throughout his time in the jungle if necessary. Explaining his decision to participate in the show, Hancock said, "I want to raise the profile of my dyslexia campaign to help every dyslexic child unleash their potential — even if it means taking an unusual route to get there, via the Australian jungle!" Hancock also explained that he was driven by the intention to display his "human side" and to use reality TV as a means to convey "important messages to the masses". It was reported that Hancock would be paid £400,000, which was "one of the largest show fees" paid to a contestant. His spokesman said that a donation would be made to St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk and causes supporting dyslexia.

Hancock joined the show on 9 November 2022 with comedian Seann Walsh. After he entered the jungle camp, Hancock was questioned by his fellow contestants, including Charlene White

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