Matt Hancock was on Monday told to apologise to Parliament for attempting to influence an investigation into a fellow Tory MP.
The former Health Secretary and I’m A Celebrity contestant was found to have broken the Code of Conduct by sending a letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards when he was probing whether MP Steve Brine had breached lobbying rules.
Mr Hancock, who was suspended from the Tory Party for entering the Australian jungle last year, told the watchdog it was his “firm belief” that the chair of the Health Select Committee had done “nothing improper and should be cleared from any accusation”.
He said his actions were appropriate and maintains he did not breach the Code, telling the Committee in written evidence: “While I do not agree that the letter I write [sic] was a breach of these new rules, I do accept that the Commission [sic] has found any breach to be minor and inadvertent”.
But Commissioner Daniel Greenberg ruled Mr Hancock “sought to influence his consideration of whether a breach of the Code” had been committed by Mr Brine.
The Standards Committee said it “agrees with the Commissioner that Mr Hancock breached paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct for Members, which concerns lobbying the Commissioner, when sending an unsolicited letter to the Commissioner on March 28”.
It added: “This case underlines that respect for the Code and the processes for investigating potential breaches of the Code, which were voted for by the House, is an important and necessary part of the Code, and that it expects Mr Hancock to reflect his understanding of this in his apology.”
The breach was minor, the Committee said. It recommended Mr Hancock, who is set to step down as an MP for West Suffolk at the next election, apologise to the Commons.
