10 of Matt Hancock's most embarrassing moments

It has been well over a year since former health secretary Matt Hancock resigned from his ministerial role for breaking social distancing guidelines, to put it tactfully.

The politician resigned after footage of him kissing his aide Gina Colangelo in his office while coronavirus was at large was released by the press, and anyone with a shred of empathy will agree it is one of the more embarrassing ways to be forced out of office.

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But what happened next did not betray the signs of a man humbled. No, Hancock did not leave public life with dignity, but instead embarked on a conveyor belt of rebrands and embarassing moments, a voyage he is still embarking on despite the inevitable mockery each attempt triggers. We can only admire his thick skin.

The marathon

When Hancock set up a fundraising page for the London Marathon, he probably expected to receive the usual reaction such a page creates - a few tenners from friends and family and some "good luck Matty!" comments.

Instead, he was inundated with trolls, spoof messages, and NSFW roasting.

What a nightmare.

That uncomfortable video

Running clearly hadn't endeared him to the nation once more, so a month later he released a video that he perhaps thought would.

The video saw him chatting to people on a high street in his constituency who mysteriously all supported him.

One woman said: “It’s so good to see you … I think you’re brilliant." While another gave him a fist-bump.

He was - you know what we are going to say - roasted by people on social media and the video was promptly deleted on Twitter.

Jingle Bell Ball

In December last year, Hancock turned up somewhere we never imagined seeing him. No, not back in a ministerial position, but at the Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball.

Clad in a black turtleneck, Hancock attended the music events to see Becky Hill, Years and Years, Justin Bieber and other acts he surely has no idea about perform. People understandably questioned why he was there.

Snubbed by the United Nations

In a more serious move in October, Hancock announced that he was “honoured” to accept an unpaid job in the UN working “to help African economy recovery from the pandemic and promote sustainable development”.

Hancock said he had become the special representative on financial innovation and climate change for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

But all was not as it seemed. PassBlue reported that the UN had decided not to go ahead with giving him the role. The Telegraph said they understood Hancock was told by the United Nations that it cannot appoint sitting MPs to be special representatives, and that it was forced to rescind the appointment.

In a statement to LBC Hancock added: “I was honoured to be approached by the UN and appointed as special representative to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), to help drive forward an agenda of strengthening markets and bringing investment to Africa

In a statement to LBC Hancock added: “I was honoured to be approached by the UN and appointed as special representative to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), to help drive forward an agenda of strengthening markets and bringing investment to Africa.

“The UN have written to me to explain that a technical UN rule has subsequently come to light which states that sitting members of parliament cannot also be UN special representatives.

“Since I am committed to continuing to serve as MP for West Suffolk, this means I cannot take up the position."

Yikes.

Podcasting

In February this year, Hancock strapped on his trademark black turtleneck once again and got podding.

Hancock followed in fellow influencer Molly-Mae Hague's footsteps when he appeared on Steven Bartlett's podcast, The Diary of a CEO, and discussed his biggest controversies, his time as health secretary, Partygate and more.

And it was his account of falling in love with Gina Colangelo (his former aide who he broke social distancing guidelines that made the biggest mark, with cynical Brits heaving into bags rather than celebrating his relationship.

Becoming a crypto bro

When the treasury randomly announced it would be making an NFT, people were surprised. But a savvy Hancock used the moment to mansplain cryptocurrency (which is used to purchase NFTs) to people, in front of a digital fireplace just to complete the digital feel.

Speaking at the London Crypto Club (a real thing apparently), he said: "Cryptocurrencies are a force for good in the world. Bad people are going to use all sorts of currencies and have since currencies were invented.

"That is also true of cryptocurrencies. But the advantage of a currency that is based on the blockchain is that if you get the regulatory piece right, then you get more transparency, not less, and the FBI have recently proved this in the states, which was excellent.

"So when it comes to things like sanctions, you can see the flow of money. And of course, there are dark corners that make this more challenging, but the mass market is a force for good, and so, there is a need to be making this argument."

People immediately roasted him, of course.

Writing a book

In an interview with GB News Hancock confirmed he was writing a book about the pandemic.

He said: "I'm writing a book about the experience, what it looked like from being health secretary and what actually happened at the time," then plugged it another couple of times."

Rumours that Hancock was pivoting from politician to penman began last year, when the Daily Mail, reported he was said to be in talks with HarperCollins about writing a hubristically titled book called How I Won The Covid War, in which he would outline his “heroic” role in the pandemic.

It was said he could even get an advance of around £100,000.

Labour Party’s Angela Rayner called it “absolutely disgusting.”

“It is absolutely disgusting that Matt Hancock gets to put his spin on events - and his failures - for a bumper pay day before bereaved families get the truth about the government’s failures and mishandling of the pandemic in a public inquiry,” she said.

Then, HarperCollins said the rumours weren't true, which was pretty awkward indeed.

However, things don't look to have gone too well for Hancock who had reportedly sold just 3,304 copies of the book...

The only logical conclusion for Hancock, the phoenix who rises from the ashes, get burnt again, dusts himself down and repeats the whole process ad infinitum, is to become a TikTok influencer. We look forward to it.

Appearing on I'm A Celebrity...

Following in the footsteps of Nadine Dorries, it was reported by The Sun that Hancock would be making his way to the Australian jungle to appear on the latest series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! A source told the tabloid: "Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell - and they always hope they'll spill the beans round the campfire.

"He's the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik.

"There's been a question mark over who the twelfth campmate would be, partly because negotiations over Matt going in were so top secret. It seems Matt was a last-minute signing."

It caused a huge amount of controversy and he saw his fair share of awkward moments including tucking into vagina and anus.

Leaving politics

He lost his whip for appearing on the show, but rather than return and beg to be let back into the Tory party, Hancock decided politics wasn't for him after all and said he was stepping down as an MP in the next general election.

He said there was a "whole new world of possibilities which [he] is excited to explore."

Having his WhatsApp messages leaked

The former health secretary is said to be “considering all options” in response to Isabel Oakeshott’s leak in The Telegraph of more than 100,000 WhatsApps she received while working on his Pandemic Diaries book. The claims in the story suggest that Hancock ignore the advice from experts on Covid testing during the pandemic. “She’s broken a legal NDA. Her behaviour is outrageous,” a source close to the former health secretary said.

In a statement, a spokesman for the former health secretary said: “These stolen messages have been doctored to create a false story that Matt rejected clinical advice on care home testing. This is flat wrong.

“On April 14th Matt received a response to his request for advice from the Chief Medical Officer’s (sic) that testing was needed for people going into care homes, which he enthusiastically accepted.

“Later that day he convened an operational meeting on delivering testing for care homes where he was advised it was not currently possible to test everyone entering care homes, which he also accepted.

“Matt concluded that the testing of people leaving hospital for care homes should be prioritised because of the higher risks of transmission, as it wasn’t no possible to mandate everyone going into care homes got tested.”

Additional reporting from PA.

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