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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Christopher Megrath

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

Matt Hancock has been suspended from the Tory whip for allegedly appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.

ITV dropped the official lineup today but it appeared one celebrity was absent from the photoshoot. Following the cast reveal, reports surfaced that former health secretary Matt Hancock would also be joining the jungle as a late addition.

He and comedian Seann Walsh are said to be entering at a later date as "bombshell arrivals" but the news of his latest television escapade hasn't gone down well with his Conservative peers.

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Dan Bloom, the online political editor for The Mirror, said his partition in the show has led to the suspension of the Tory whip. In a series of tweets, he said: "BREAKING - Matt Hancock has lost the whip for going on I'm a Celeb Chief."

Chief Whip Simon Hart said the situation was so serious he should have the right to sit as a Conservative suspended.

“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,” Mr Hart said.

The West Suffolk MP was forced to quit as health secretary in June 2021 after breaking coronavirus lockdown rules by conducting an affair in his ministerial office with aide Gina Coladangelo.

Mr Hancock was among supporters of Rishi Sunak who welcomed the new leader to Conservative headquarters last week but was overlooked for a ministerial job under the new Prime Minister.

He had also reportedly been considering a run to be chair of the Treasury Select Committee, but pulled out of the race on Monday.

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