The former health minister who led the UK through the pandemic has been suspended from his party for joining a ‘bug-eating’ reality TV show filmed in Australia.

Matt Hancock has been slammed for his decision to take part in the UK’s version of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here while parliament was sitting.

He was suspended by the ruling Conservative Party after he signed up for the show which will also feature pop singer Boy George and ex-England rugby union player Mike Tindall.

Mr Hancock quit government after he was filmed kissing an adviser in breach of lockdown rules.

The long-running ITV show features celebrities undertaking challenges such as eating insects and being enclosed with snakes, before contestants are eliminated by public votes.

The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group criticised Mr Hancock for choosing to “eat bugs on TV” rather than deal with the fall-out from his handling of the pandemic.

“Matt Hancock isn’t a ‘celebrity,’ he’s the former health secretary who oversaw the UK having one of the highest death tolls in the world from COVID-19 whilst breaking his own lockdown rules,” spokesman Lobby Akinnola said.

“If he had any respect for the families like mine, he would be sharing his private emails with the COVID Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV.”

There was also a less than enthusiastic response to the news in West Suffolk, east England — the area represented by Mr Hancock in parliament.

Andy Drummond, deputy chair of the local Conservative association, said he was “looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis,” according to PA Media.

Matt Hancock is expected to join the 10 campmates part-way through the series. Photo: ITV

The Conservative Party said it had withdrawn the whip, meaning he was effectively suspended from the parliamentary party, after hearing he would be going to Australia to take part in the show when parliament was sitting.

“Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect,” Chief Whip Simon Hart, who handles party discipline, said on Tuesday.

Mr Hancock, 44, was at the centre of the United Kingdom’s fight against COVID-19 as health secretary, routinely appearing on television to tell people to follow strict rules and to defend the government’s response.

But he quit in June 2021 after the married minister was caught on security video footage breaking distancing rules by kissing and embracing an aide in his office.

Mr Hancock backed Rishi Sunak to become prime minister but he was not rewarded with a ministerial position, and reports said he does not expect to serve in government again.

Mr Sunak’s spokesman said the prime minister believed MPs should be working hard for their constituents while the UK was facing a cost of living crisis.

Asked if Mr Sunak would watch Mr Hancock on the show, the spokesman said: “I think that’s unlikely.”

UK media quoted sources close to Mr Hancock saying his appearance would “show the human side” of politicians, and he would use his time in the jungle to promote his dyslexia campaign.

Mr Hancock is not the first politician from former prime minister Boris Johnson’s government to appear on the show, which attracts more than 10 million viewers.

Nadine Dorries also had the whip suspended when she took part in 2012.

Nine years later Mr Johnson made her culture secretary.