Matt Hancock Just Singlehandedly Ended the Ken Trend
Former UK politician and Health Secretary Matt Hancock has ruined yet another precious thing as he continues to try and rebuild his brand.
The MP-turned-influencer posted a TikTok yesterday (August 7) lipsyncing to “I’m Just Ken” from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie with the caption “I am Kenough!” with a flexed bicep emoji, and it honestly ruined my day.
Hancock stepped down as Health Secretary in 2021 after being caught on CCTV kissing and groping a woman who was not his wife. This happened during one of the country’s Coronavirus lockdowns, meaning he broke the rules as someone who was meant to set an example—and was quite literally setting those rules as Health Secretary.
He then continued working as an MP for nearly a year and a half before also stepping down from that role in June last year as, basically, he’d discovered social media and was just in a silly, goofy mood.
In his statement, he explained, “There was a time when I thought the only way to influence the public debate was in Parliament, but I’ve realized there’s far more to it than that. I have increasingly come to believe that for a healthy democracy we must find new ways to reach people—especially those who are disengaged with politics. The revival of modern conservatism over the next decade will I suspect take place as much outside Parliament as in it.
“For my part, I want to do things differently. I have discovered a whole new world of possibilities which I am excited to explore – new ways for me to communicate with people of all ages and from all backgrounds. I look forward to championing the issues that are dear to my heart, including better support for dyslexic children who get a raw deal from the education system.
At the time, he was described by the press as “disgraced” yet was able to pull himself back from the brink and ended up on ITV’s celebrity Australian Outback survival show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. As a huge fan of the series, I was, and still am, so disappointed that producers and bosses let him appear on the show.
It is because of his participation that he because the ‘celebrity’ that he is. Seeing him—someone who was once in charge of our health as a nation—being covered in (or eating) bugs and having ‘earnest’ conversations with campmates allowed the British public, who seem to have the brains of goldfish and be extraordinarily persuasive, to be like “Hey, he’s actually alright!”
And now we’re here having fun trends ruined for us. Love it.
(featured image: Matt Hancock)
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