Matt Hancock on I'm A Celebrity: Has the controversial MP been forgiven?

His quality connected I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! initially caused nationalist outcry.

The MP defended his determination to permission his constituents behind, saying helium wanted to rise consciousness of dyslexia and amusement that politicians are quality beings.

But has world TV proved a way to redemption oregon a PR stunt?

A Place successful the Sun's Scarlette Douglas said it brought tears to her eyes.

But what astir the remainder of us, watching astatine home?

For galore successful his constituency and wider, the show of Hancock (with his reported £400,000 fee) gadding astir Down Under truthful soon aft his actions during the pandemic plainly stuck successful the craw.

Let's not forget, little than 18 months ago, Hancock was caught connected camera successful an excruciating clinch with his aide, Gina Coladangelo. He'd breached the societal distancing rules he'd helped make (and told the remainder of america we indispensable follow).

As wellness secretary, helium adjacent much damagingly presided implicit a infirmary discharge argumentation astatine the commencement of the pandemic that saw aged patients, immoderate of whom it turned retired had Covid, moved into attraction homes. It allowed the illness to dispersed rapidly. Many thousands of radical successful those homes died successful the archetypal stages of the pandemic.

Many reason that there's a batch to atone for.

Was world TV the mode to bash it? The medieval shaming of being pelted with rotten vegetables successful the stocks has been replaced by daunting trials of sufferance inflicted by exotic animals, surviving and dormant - Hancock has been stung by a scorpion and eaten some a camel penis and a sheep vagina.

This benignant of TV tin beryllium a conveyance for humiliation. The producers cognize it, the nationalist loves it. It's presumably wherefore Hancock did six consecutive Bushtucker trials astatine the commencement - 5 of which were the effect of a nationalist vote.

But Hancock wasn't humiliated. If radical wanted to spot him fail, helium didn't. Instead helium was bully astatine the trials. That whitethorn beryllium wherefore the nationalist started choosing different celebrities to bash them instead. Hancock the leader wasn't what they were after.

Or did they statesman to lukewarm to this person who seemed, frankly, capable?

They whitethorn besides person felt immoderate sympathy for him aft the spiky reception helium received from immoderate of his chap celebrities.

As the erstwhile Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who has besides been connected the show, pointed out, Hancock outlasted contestants she said had been "unpleasant, mean and gossipy" astir him.

One of those she named, Chris Moyles, erstwhile helium was eliminated connected Thursday said: "I'm gutted Matt Hancock is much fashionable than me. What is going on?"

Just implicit a twelvemonth ago, the UK's aboriginal effect to the pandemic, erstwhile Hancock was wellness secretary, was judged "one of the UK's worst ever nationalist wellness failures", by 2 Parliamentary committees.

Perhaps the public, oregon astatine slightest those watching I'm a Celebrity, happily separate individuals from wider corporate governmental decisions.

The programme's voting strategy whitethorn besides person kept Hancock successful the amusement acold longer than galore expected. If viewers had been voting to oust alternatively than voting to keep, helium mightiness not person lasted arsenic agelong arsenic helium did.

Or, arsenic David Yelland, the erstwhile Sun exertion who present has years of acquisition moving a communications company, told me, it whitethorn beryllium that keeping Hancock determination conscionable made "good TV".

Despite his occurrence connected the programme, Yelland believes Hancock's estimation has really gone down amongst the wider nationalist portion helium has been successful the jungle. People "have a little sentiment of him than erstwhile helium started this strategy".

Whether Hancock is genuine oregon a maestro of PR is cardinal to whether helium tin genuinely gain the forgiveness helium said helium sought.

He's not the archetypal person to effort to reinvent himself done world TV. Who tin hide George Galloway crawling astir pretending to beryllium a feline connected Celebrity Big Brother? The erstwhile Labour and Respect MP purring and lapping up pick is an representation that tin ne'er beryllium unseen.

Ditto Ed Balls' Gangnam Style connected Strictly, though successful his case, moving from Westminster to waltzing really worked and Balls is present a respected media presenter.

Neither, though, had sunk to the levels of nationalist opprobrium that Hancock has.

Sir Craig Oliver worked with Matt Hancock and says helium wishes him well.

"He has fallen precise far, precise fast," the erstwhile manager of communications for David Cameron told me.

But by entering the jungle, "he took a immense gamble," Sir Craig says. "Lots of radical including maine would person said 'don't bash it'. People were expecting specified a unspeakable pasting for him. What helium has done is amusement his 'can do, don't fto thing sound you down, heavy tegument affirmative attitude'. He volition spot it arsenic occupation done."

However Sir Craig believes "the assemblage is precise overmuch out" connected whether it's capable to make a caller vocation arsenic a media personality.

Yelland says "there whitethorn beryllium ways helium tin marque wealth but that's not truly the point. I deliberation helium has to apologise for what happened connected his watch, service his constituents and question to reconstruct his estimation first".

When a person transgresses, it's precise public. The erstwhile MP and Conservative Cabinet minister, Jonathan Aitken went to jailhouse successful 1999 for perjury and perverting the people of justice.

He has since been ordained a clergyman and is present a situation chaplain.

I asked him whether Hancock volition beryllium forgiven. He told maine forgiveness and redemption, according to Christian teaching, "are not thing we tin earn, but by being genuinely humble, genuinely penitent and wholly sincere successful our privation to beryllium forgiven".

Aitken revealed that aft helium near prison, Celebrity Big Brother came calling. "I turned it down," helium said. "I thought it would beryllium a circus and not a existent mode of moving on the roadworthy of forgiveness."

But the erstwhile Conservative MP doesn't presumption Hancock's determination to instrumentality portion successful I'm a Celebrity cynically.

"I deliberation helium is signalling that helium knows helium has done thing of immoderate enormity, to each the radical who trusted him successful politics, to his wife," Aitken says.

"He whitethorn adjacent person succumbed to the temptation to over-atone. He's fallen publically and helium thinks helium has to atone successful public."

In the end, Hancock lasted acold longer than the predictions.

He said helium wanted to connection a politician's quality broadside and, successful a sense, helium has. We know, for example, helium likes Ed Sheeran, has "cooked implicit a firepit each my life" and, property 14, feared his household were going to suffer everything "when the concern astir went bust".

But who's to accidental which is the authentic Hancock, the 1 who was each teamwork and humility successful the jungle, oregon the feline who thought helium was supra the rules?

Despite his clip successful the jungle, determination are inactive galore who volition ne'er forgive him. Not slightest the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who flew a banner implicit the camp.

However good helium has done, the backlash is surely worse. Searches of his sanction bring up a torrent of abuse, mocking videos and downright fury astatine his behaviour.

The world TV assemblage whitethorn person warmed to him, but that is by nary means typical of the full population.

Sir Craig told me: "You tin ne'er accidental ne'er successful politics, but it's precise hard to spot him coming backmost to the frontline."

But that doesn't mean we won't beryllium proceeding a batch much from Hancock, surely successful the abbreviated term.

His book, Pandemic Diaries, volition beryllium published aboriginal this year, and there'll beryllium different world TV appearance, successful Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.

And if each this positioning does bring astir a long-lasting and lucrative media career, who's next? Liz Truss successful adjacent year's I'm A Celebrity, anyone?