Matt Hancock I'm A Celebrity: Portadown woman whose mother died from Covid says his TV appearance 'disgraceful and disrespectful'

Martina Ferguson, whose mother Ursula Derry died in January 2021 from Covid, spent much of the pandemic campaigning for better access for relatives to care homes. A spokesperson for the NI Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Campaign, she has also campaigned for the UK public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic to take Northern Ireland fully into account.

She was speaking after the former Health Secretary took third place in the I'm a Celebrity reality TV show. The married MP was forced to resign as health secretary in June 2021 when CCTV images of him kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo in his office were published in the media. He admitted that this broke the government's own 2m social distancing rules which he had been promoting.

Earlier this month the families of some of those who died during the Covid-19 pandemic flew a protest banner over the reality show's Australia camp, demanding Mr Hancock's removal from the show. Ofcom received 1,100 complaints about him taking part.

Martina Ferguson told the News Letter: "I’m sure many of Matt Hancocks constituents and parliamentary colleagues will be angry at his absence from Parliament which was in full sitting whilst he was parading around in the jungle on I’m a Celebrity.

"Matt Hancock is a former Health Secretary, not a celebrity. Just look at the Covid death toll across the UK during the pandemic, one of the highest in the world."

The UK's Covid public inquiry heard recently that Covid was mentioned on the death certificates of almost 5000 people in Northern Ireland alone.

"He even breached his own lockdown rules whilst people in society were ripped apart by them," Martina added. "We had children struggling and restrictions on visiting loved ones who were feeling isolated and abandoned in care homes and hospitals. Many of them ended up dying alone.

"These were devastating circumstances that bereaved families found themselves in and society as a whole was abiding by the rules the government set. It is just disgraceful and disrespectful."

She called on Mr Hancock to cooperate with the UK Covid public inquiry and said he should not be "cashing in" on his political profile through reality television fees.

Previously she told the News Letter: “The No. 10 parties that took place early in the pandemic happened at a time when people across the nation weren’t allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones, couldn’t hug or comfort loved ones. I was grieving the loss of my Mummy even when she was alive - I was locked out of the Care Home and wasn’t able to have any meaningful contact for 9 months with my Mum, who had advanced Dementia."

For nine months she was only able to see her mother through the care home window, which left her “at her wits’ end”.

She added: “My mother really relied on tactile sensory contact, the sensation of a hug and touch, and I understand the importance of spending meaningful quality time with a loved one in a care home.”