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 has been Member of Parliament (MP) for West Suffolk since 2010. He is a member of the Conservative Party, but now sits in the House of Commons as an independent, having had the whip suspended since November 2022.
This article is about the British politician. For the fictional Australian TV character, see Matt Hancock (Neighbours).
Matt Hancock
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Gina Coladangelo (2021–present)
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Hancock was born in Cheshire, with his family running a software business. He studied a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Exeter College, Oxford, and an MPhil in Economics at Christ's College, 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. In December 2022, he announced his intention to stand down at the next UK general election.
Early life and education
Matthew Hancock was born on 2 October 1978 in Chester, Cheshire, to Michael Hancock and Shirley Hills.[2] Hancock has an older sister and a brother.[3]
Hancock attended Farndon County Primary School, in Farndon, Cheshire, and the fee-paying King's School, Chester. He took A-levels in Maths, Physics, Computing, and Economics.[4] He later studied computing at the further education college, West Cheshire College.[5][6] Hancock then studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and graduated with a first in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later earned a MPhil degree in Economics at Christ's College, Cambridge.[6][7] He was diagnosed with dyslexia at university.[8] Hancock became a member of the Conservative Party in 1999.[9]
Early career
After university, Hancock briefly worked for his family's computer software company, Border Business Systems,[10] and for a backbench Conservative MP,[4] before moving to London to work as an economist at the Bank of England, specialising in the housing market. In 2005, he was an economic adviser to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, later becoming Osborne's chief of staff.[7][11]
