SNP Students, the wing of the Scottish National Party representing college and university students, have criticised former health secretary Matt Hancock’s appearance on the ITV reality show I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
The affiliate, which represents around five thousand student members of the SNP, says that Mr Hancock’s appearance “highlights how out of touch they [the Conservative party] are with the electorate”.
Mr Hancock, the sitting MP for West Suffolk, served as health secretary during most of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, his tenure was brought to an end after The Sun reported that he had been having an affair with one of his aides. At the time, this went against government guidance on social distancing.
For the past two weeks, Mr Hancock has been participating in the ITV series, which sees celebrities living in the Australian jungle. The celebrities participate in often stomach-churning and uncomfortable challenges in order to win food and treats for their fellow campmates.
Should Matt Hancock get out of there?
That Hancock had travelled to Australia to participate in the show had been a point of widespread criticism.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he was “disappointed when he [Mr Hancock] went on the show”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said that Mr Hancock should “voluntarily leave” the series in order to return to Westminster and “do his job”.
MPs from across the political spectrum joined in on the chorus of criticism of Mr Hancock. His appearance on the programme resulted in over one thousand complaints to Ofcom, the regulator responsible for television.
SNP Students have now given their thoughts, questioning whether Hancock “enter[ed] the jungle to make amends for locking lips with a married women when social interaction was explicitly curtailed?
“Or is this a ruse to patch over the hypocritical mayhem of this Tory government?”.
They also say that Hancock’s appearance represents an “arrogant thoughtlessness”, referencing the fact that the former health secretary’s participation comes at a time where the country is facing a cost-of-living crisis.
Featured Image Credit: ITV
