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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Thomas Haynes

Matt Hancock's James Bond moment as he steps out of Sepentine after chilly swim

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock treated passersby to a real James Bond moment as he stripped off for a chilly swim in Hyde Park.

The disgraced minister, who was forced to resign last year, was papped taking a dip in London's Serpentine lake this morning.

Hancock, 43, had been out on a jog with the Parliamentary Running Club in sub-zero temperatures and stripped down to a pair of thermal shorts for a post-run paddle.

Mr Hancock, who recently emerged from isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, only managed about 20 metres in the icy water before climbing out.

Matt Hancock finds himself in cold water as he enjoys London's Serpentine (Evening Standard/Eyevine)

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Mr Hancock was accompanied by former Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland and former junior health minister Lord Bethell.

The Tory MP was caught on camera last summer enjoying a passionate kiss in his Whitehall office with his then-aide Gina Colangelo when social distancing rules banned contact with members of other households.

He resigned not long after the footage emerged.

On reaching the Serpentine the trio stripped off and took to the murky waters (Evening Standard/Eyevine)

It is not the first time the former Health Secretary has shoed off his sporty side while out and about in London.

He took part in the 2021 London marathon last October to raise money for St Nicholas Hospice Care in his West Suffolk constituency.

That same year, he was papped by The Standard leaping over the fences in St James Park in Westminster.

Daniel Craig playing James Bond (Handout)

Mr Hancock has also photographed riding a scooter and clambering up a climbing wall while on a visit to a youth centre in Dagenham, east London in 2019.

He has also been seen engaging in some light parkour by jumping off concrete blocks on London's Southbank.

It marks the second time Mr Hancock has broken free from isolation, after testing positive for Covid-19 for the first time last year.

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