Matt Hancock assault: Police arrest 61-year-old man

The former health secretary is standing down as an MP at the next election

A man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting former health secretary Matt Hancock on the London Underground.

Police said the 61-year-old was arrested on suspicion of common assault and a public order offence.

Footage posted online showed a man shouting and following Mr Hancock through Westminster station and onto a train.

Mr Hancock is not thought to have been hurt in the incident - described by his spokesman as an "unpleasant encounter".

"Matt wants to put on record his thanks to Transport for London and the British Transport Police for their extraordinary work," the spokesman added.

Inquiries are ongoing.

Mr Hancock, the MP for West Suffolk who currently sits as an independent, announced last month that he would not seek re-election next year.

He lost the Conservative whip last year after signing up for the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, which saw him trade Westminster for the Australian jungle for weeks on end.

He ultimately finished in third place, and defended his participation in the competition by insisting that television was a "powerful tool" for raising awareness of issues such as dyslexia.

The 44-year-old became a household name in spring 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he regularly spoke for the government as health secretary under then prime minister Boris Johnson.

He was forced to resign from his job the following year, after images emerged showing him kissing colleague, Gina Coladangelo, who later became his partner.

He admitted breaking social distancing guidance.

Following his appearance on I'm a Celebrity he announced that he would not be standing to be an MP in the next general election, saying he would instead "engage with the public in new ways", adding that it had been an honour to represent his constituency in Parliament.

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