Search Results - Hancock, Matthew

Matt Hancock

Matthew John David Hancock (born 2 October 1978) is a British politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January to July 2018, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2018 to 2021. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for West Suffolk from 2010 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.

Hancock was born in Cheshire, with his family running a software business. He studied a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford, and an MPhil in Economics at the University of Cambridge. He was an economist at the Bank of England before serving as a senior economic adviser and later chief of staff to MP, George Osborne. Hancock was first elected as MP for West Suffolk at the 2010 general election.

Once in Parliament, Hancock served as a junior minister at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2012 to 2015, and was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion from 2014 to 2015. He attended David Cameron's cabinet as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2015 to 2016. After Theresa May became prime minister following Cameron's resignation, Hancock was moved to the post of Minister of State for Digital and Culture. He was promoted to May's cabinet as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In July 2018, after the promotion of Jeremy Hunt to Foreign Secretary, Hancock replaced him as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. After May's resignation, Hancock stood in the Conservative Party leadership election to replace her, but withdrew shortly after the first ballot and subsequently endorsed Boris Johnson. After Johnson became prime minister, Hancock retained his position as health secretary in his cabinet.

Hancock's tenure as health secretary was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which he played a prominent role in the UK government's response to. Hancock oversaw efforts to procure PPE, but the absence of a competitive tendering process for the award of some contracts proved controversial. He expanded COVID-19 testing and tracing, and also oversaw the early stage of the UK's COVID-19 vaccination programme. In June 2021, it was shown that he had breached COVID-19 social distancing restrictions by kissing and embracing Gina Coladangelo in his office. Coladangelo was at that time a director at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and Hancock was having an extramarital affair with her. Following this controversy, Hancock resigned as health secretary and returned to the backbenches. He was succeeded by Sajid Javid.

In November 2022, Hancock had the whip suspended after announcing he would be appearing as a contestant in the twenty-second series of the survival reality television show ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', in which he finished in third place. He stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election. Provided by Wikipedia