Matt Hancock is planning to make documentaries when he steps down as an MP, it has been reported.
He plans to make ‘serious documentaries’ on assisted dying and dyslexia after the former health secretary announced he would not stand in the next election last week.
This news emerge following the politician’s controversial appearance last month on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, leading his former allies to suggest he puts his public platform to good use, educating the public about political issues he worked on during his time in office.
Mr Hancock is understood to have received a number of offers from major broadcasters and could consider a new career as a documentary presenter, The Telegraph reports.
Writing to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Mr Hancock said he had discovered a ‘whole new world of possibilities’ after escaping Westminister for a brief period and believes he can ‘influence the public debate’ away from Parliament.
He said his time in the jungle allowed him to re-think and find ‘new ways’ to ‘communicate with people of all ages and from all backgrounds’.
Sources close to Mr Hancock told The Telegraph that he decided he supported assisted dying over the pandemic when a colleague who was terminally ill wished to end their own life.
Hancock previously had been against the practice, which is banned in the UK, but while he was serving in Boris Johnson’s cabinet he ordered a review of evidence on assisted dying.
Historically MPs have been given a ‘free vote’ on assisting dying – meaning they do not have to vote with their party line – because it is consider a conscience issue.
The last vote to change the laws over assisted dying in the UK, which took place in 2015, was defeated by 300 votes to 118.
