29 February 2024 , 11:44
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Matt Hancock endured a savage humiliation as he attempted a joke about Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg - only to be publicly confronted by the Brexiteer's teenage son.
Giving a talk at the elite private school Eton the ex-Health Secretary took a punt by telling boys in the audience his former Cabinet colleagues was not a good politician. But Mr Hancock was caught out when it turned out Sir Jacob's son, Peter, was in the audience - and was having none of it.
A diary extract in The Times said Peter jumped to his dad's defence, describing him as a "great man". And Peter threw further shade at Mr Hancock by pointedly reminding everyone that his dad "remained loyal to his wife".
It said: "This recieved its inevitable payback when questions were open to the floor and a thin bespectacled lad called Peter immediately strode out to the wicket and declared that his father was a great man in public and in private.
Mr Hancock told boys at Eton College that Sir Jacob was a bad politician (Getty Images)"'Especially,' Mogg Minor added, 'as he remained loyal to his wife'. Cue uproarious applause and rapid deflation of Hancock." A friend of Mr Hancock told The Mirror: "Matt thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the sparring with some very impressive boys."
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Infamously Mr Hancock was forced to resign from the Cabinet in 2021 after breaking his own Covid rules. Video footage at the time emerged of him kissing and embracing his former aide Gina Coladangelo in his office at the Department of Health.
In a fraught exchange at the Covid Inquiry in December, Mr Hancock was forced to admit the scandal dented public adherence to lockdown rules. He said: “Well, what I’d say is that the lesson for the future is very clear.
“And it is important that those who make the rules abide by them, and I resigned in order to take accountability for my failure to do.”
Mr Hancock, who was married at the time, went on to appear on ITV show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and SAS Who Dares Wins. He has announced he won't be standing again at the next general election.
He currently sits in the Commons as an independent after having the Tory whip withdrawn in 2022. He was criticised for travelling to Australia while Parliament was in session to take part in I'm A Celeb.