Penny Mordaunt says Splash! reality show gig didn’t affect her duties as MP

Commons leader recalls her own ITV appearance – as fellow minister questions whether Matt Hancock will fulfil duties while ‘eating various worms’ in jungle

(REUTERS)

Penny Mordaunt defended her reality television experiences and said it did not affect her duties as an MP after Matt Hancock’s move to join I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was raised in parliament.

Discussing her appearance on ITV show Splash! in 2014, the Commons leader said she was compared to “a paving slab being pushed off a scaffold” – but insisted she could still work as an MP.

Mr Hancock, the former health secretary, had the Tory whip suspended after it emerged that he was joining the ITV reality show at a time when parliament is sitting.