When Matt Hancock entered the I’m A Celebrity jungle, there was genuine shock at Westminster.
Not least among staff in his own Conservative association in West Suffolk, whom he hadn’t warned, which may explain why he’s standing down at the next election.
And it wasn’t just the decision of the former Health Secretary to go on the TV show that caused waves, but the reported £400,000 fee for a mere three weeks’ work — albeit with some humiliating Bushtucker Trials thrown in.
Only 1980s pop star Boy George was reportedly being paid more. But how do we know if that figure is right? Nearly two months after he left the jungle in creditable third place, Hancock hasn’t declared any earnings from his trip Down Under.
The MPs’ code of conduct says: ‘MPs must register within 28 days any interest which someone might reasonably consider to influence their actions or words as an MP.’
Yet Hancock, who continued to be paid his £84,000 MP’s salary while he was on the reality show, has declared £800 for a speaking engagement after he left the jungle. He’s also declared £400 and £500 for tickets to two separate Christmas parties with Global Radio.
So why has he declared those relatively trivial amounts rather than the bloated fee he earned for abandoning his constituents?
An oversight? Or is he trying to forget those disgusting Bushtucker Trials?
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