I’m a celebritv boss
Shamed former Health Secretary sets up own telly firm while still MP
I’M A Celebrity runner-up Matt Hancock has set up his own TV firm.
The sitting MP, who enraged constituents with his jungle stint last year, set up Greenhazel Ltd in January, naming himself as the company’s sole officer.
Listings give its business as “television programming and broadcasting activities”.
The former Tory Health Secretary had the party whip suspended over his appearance on the ITV reality show.
He came third after being paid £320,000 to take part while MPs were still working.
He said after leaving the jungle he would quit as West Suffolk MP at the next election – but is set to appear later this year on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Hancock’s move to set up his own firm was slammed as “disgraceful” by Labour MP Richard Burgon, who is campaigning for a bill to ban MPs from second jobs.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “Matt Hancock is another example of an MP chasing corporate cash when he should be serving constituents. This is exactly the kind of thing that breeds cynicism in our politics. It short-changes the public.
“The decision to go in the jungle was disgraceful – this is more of the same.”
Shamed Hancock was forced to quit as Health Secretary in June 2021 after breaking his own distancing rules in an office clinch with aide Gina Coladangelo. He is due to give evidence in June to an inquiry into the Government’s handling of the Covid pandemic.
And he was also under scrutiny this week after papers lodged in the High Court accused ministers of ordering unusable PPE at a cost of £122million.
In a memoir last year, Hancock defended himself against attacks over PPE, raging: “Of course we had to use the emergency procedure for buying, which allows officials to move fast and not tender everything for months.”
The MP faced criticism after linking his jungle stint with dyslexia awareness and promising donations to charity – then giving just 3% of his fee. He argued his £10,000 gift was “a decent sum”.