Matt Hancock MP is the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appointed on 9 July following Jeremy Hunt's move to the Foreign Office.

Prior to his move to health, Hancock was Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (from 8 January 2018 to 9 July 2018) and previously Minister of State for Digital from July 2016 to January 2018.

He is the MP for West Suffolk, having been elected in the 2010 general election.

From 2010 he served as a backbencher on the Public Accounts Committee and the Standards & Privileges Committee and entered government in September 2012, and has served in a number of Ministerial Roles, including for skills and business, and as Paymaster General. He oversaw the expansion of apprenticeships, and championed the digital transformation of government.

From July 2016 he served at DCMS as Minister of State for Digital and was responsible for broadband, broadcasting, creative industries, cyber and the tech industry.

Pre politics
Before entering politics, he worked for his family business, as an economist at the Bank of England, and as Chief of Staff to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Education
He holds degrees from Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Personal life
He is married to Martha and has three young children. According to Sky News, he is a firm parent with strict rules around mobile phone use.

Unusual facts

• He is the first MP in modern times to win a horse race, having raced to victory at the Newmarket July Course in August 2012.
• He is an avid cricketer and plays for the Lords & Commons Cricket team.
• He once suffered frostbite en route to the Pole to play the most northerly game of cricket on record. He retains all his fingers.