Matt Hancock knew he wasn’t going to get an easy ride on I’m A Celebrity when he chose to ditch parliament for the jungle.
The former health secretary has received an intense backlash from his constituents and colleagues for taking time away from the Commons while it is still sitting.
And sure enough, on arriving in the jungle last night, Hancock was chosen by the public to face his second bushtucker trial.
While there are likely to be many members of the public who want to put Hancock through his paces, there is s certain contingent that seems to be especially eager to apply the pressure.
Cabinet minister Chris Heaton-Harris told Sky News that he didn’t watch the show — but that many of his colleagues do.
“So I know the format of the show and I do believe there’s quite a lot of people in a building not too far away from here, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, who’ve downloaded a certain app so they can vote.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.”
Heaton-Harris said Hancock should be “voting and debating” in parliament and also questioned his reasoning for entering the jungle.
“I read this morning what he said about what how he wants to prove that all MPs are human — and that’s true, all MPs are human.
“But I think we do that every day in our constituencies and what we do in parliament.”
Hancock was also challenged by journalist and TV presenter Charlene White on entering the camp yesterday. She asked simply: “Why are you here?”
Hancock replied that there are ““so few ways in which politicians can show that we are human beings”.
“If I can use this to sort of peel myself back a bit and just be me, it’s better.”
“But I can imagine it would not have gone down well at all at home?” White continued.
“You have to expect that because parliament is still sitting, we’re not in recess, you know…?”
He told her: “I genuinely think that because we’ve now got sort of stability, that is…”
White said: “We’ve had stability for all of five minutes, Matt.”
Hancock replied: “Rishi’s great, he’ll be fine.”
Asked by White if he could understand the public backlash, he said: “I understand that but I also.. of course I get that, right. But I also just think that sometimes you’ve got to do things differently.”
Sunak was among those to join the criticism of Hancock, who had the Conservative Party whip removed following the announcement that he would appear on the show.
The prime minister said he was “very disappointed” in the MP’s decision.
“I think politics is a noble profession, at its best – it can and should be – but it’s incumbent on politicians to earn people’s respect and trust,” he told the Sun.
“They do that by working hard for their constituents, as the vast majority of MPs do – that is why I was very disappointed with Matt’s decision.”