Matt Hancock

British politician (born 1978)

Matthew John David Hancock (born 2nd October 1978) is a British politician. He has been the MP of West Suffolk since 2010.[2] He was Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2018 until 2021. Hancock was suspended from the Conservative Party in November 2022.


Matthew Hancock

Hancock in 2020
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In office
9 July 2018 – 26 June 2021
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byJeremy Hunt
Succeeded bySajid Javid
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
In office
8 January 2018 – 9 July 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byKaren Bradley
Succeeded byJeremy Wright
Minister of State for Digital and Culture
In office
15 July 2016 – 8 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byEd Vaizey
Succeeded byMargot James
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Paymaster General
In office
11 May 2015 – 14 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byFrancis Maude
Succeeded byBen Gummer
United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion
In office
14 October 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byKenneth Clarke
Succeeded byEric Pickles
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise
In office
15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byMichael Fallon
Succeeded byAnna Soubry
Minister of State for Energy
In office
15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byMichael Fallon
Succeeded byAndrea Leadsom
Minister of State for Portsmouth
In office
15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byMichael Fallon
Succeeded byMark Francois
Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise[a]
In office
6 September 2012 – 15 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byJohn Hayes
Succeeded byNick Boles
Member of Parliament
for West Suffolk
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byRichard Spring
Majority23,194 (45.1%)
Personal details
Born
Matthew John David Hancock

(1978-10-02) 2 October 1978 (age 46)
Chester, Cheshire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Martha Hoyer Millar
(m. 2006; sep. 2021)
Children3
EducationThe King's School, Chester
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (BA)
University of Cambridge (MPhil)
Websitematt-hancock.com
a. ^ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills from 6 September 2012 to 7 October 2013.[1]

Political roles

change

On 9 July 2018, after the promotion of Jeremy Hunt to Foreign Secretary, Hancock was named Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.[3]

On 25 May 2019, Hancock announced his plans to run for leadership of the Conservative Party.[4] He withdrew from the race on 14 June shortly after winning only twenty votes on the first ballot.[5]

In May 2021, Hancock was filmed kissing an assistant during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also attended Boris Johnson's party during the national quarantine. Both of these events angered many people. He announced his resignation as Secretary for Health on 26 June 2021,[6] with Sajid Javid taking over as Health Secretary.[7]

Television

change

In November 2022, Matt Hancock was announced as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here (a show where celebrities live in a jungle). He was suspended from the Conservative Party because of this. Hancock made it to the final and finished in third place out of 12 celebrities.

He will also be a contestant on SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Matt Hancock released a book named Pandemic Diaries.

The journalist Isabel Oakeshott worked with Hancock as the ghostwriter on his Pandemic Diaries. He gave her his WhatsApp messages and she later gave them to the Daily Telegraph. He said this was a “massive betrayal of trust”.[8]

References

change
  1. "Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP". Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. "Young minister has the skills to climb to the top in Westminster". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. "Matt Hancock replaces Jeremy Hunt as health secretary". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  4. "Race to be new prime minister begins". BBC News. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  5. "Tory leadership: Matt Hancock quits contest". BBC News. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  6. "Matt Hancock quits as health secretary after breaking social distance guidance". BBC News. 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  7. "Matt Hancock quits and Sajid Javid becomes new Health Secretary". The Daily Telegraph. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. Cowper, Andy (2023-03-10). "What we learnt from the Matt Hancock WhatsApp revelations". BMJ. 380: 583. doi:10.1136/bmj.p583. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 36898718.