Strip Hancock of his MP salary for going on I’m a Celebrity...
MATT Hancock should be stripped of his MP salary for signing up to I’m A Celebrity, according to a survey.
A poll of 2,000 people found nearly three quarters (72 per cent) think the former Health Secretary should not receive a penny of his estimated £84,000 annual salary while he’s in the Australian jungle.
Just 10 per cent believe his claim that he is going Down Under to highlight his dyslexia campaign – with 48 per cent believing it is down to financial greed.
He is reported to be receiving £400,000 for his appearance in the reality show.
Nearly half (45 per cent) think it will spell the end of his political career, but 23 per cent think he could make a comeback.
However, Hancock’s time in the jungle is likely to be uncomfortable, as 48 per cent of those quizzed, via OnePoll, said they’ll vote for him to compete in every Bushtucker trial.
Nearly six in 10 (56 per cent) said the scandal-hit MP’s decision to go into the jungle was a bad career decision, while just 15 per cent consider it a “good move”. It also emerged 56 per cent believe it was the right decision for the party to remove the whip from Hancock and force him to sit as an independent.
Hancock has represented West Suffolk since 2010.
He has claimed this was the third approach from ITV for him to appear on the show.
His career has been plagued by scandal and he resigned from his government position after he was filmed kissing a colleague in breach of Covid-19 rules. He later apologised for breaking social distancing guidance while in charge of the country’s response to the pandemic.
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, a group fighting for a public inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic, have set up a petition to have Hancock removed from the programme.
He is not the first serving Tory MP to head into the jungle and have the whip removed.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries entered the camp in 2012, where she took part in two trials before being the first to be booted out.