Matt Hancock revealed today he has dyslexia but credited the condition with helping his work as a politician.
The Health Secretary said he was ‘uncomfortable’ talking about a weakness but said he appreciated the strengths it had also given him.
Mr Hancock said he had been inspired by former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls publicly discussing his struggles with a stammer.
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling.
Matt Hancock (pictured addressing the Tory conference today) revealed today he has dyslexia but credited the condition with helping his work as a politician
In an appearance at the Times Red Box fringe at the Tory conference, Mr Hancock also seized on the chance to tease Boris Johnson about his lengthy tirades on Brexit.
He quipped that ‘good journalism has a clarity’ and added: ‘I don’t do 4,000 words.’
Mr Hancock said: ‘The truth is it’s given me some real strengths: I can’t read as quickly as some people can but I can remember details of numbers and language.
‘I took some inspiration from Ed Balls when he talked about having a stammer. I saw how people reacted to the fact he talked about it and came forward.
‘The message to anybody who is dyslexic is that you can achieve whatever you want to.
‘Whilst it may make it harder to do some things, it makes you better in other ways. The research shows people who are dyslexic make lateral connections more often.
‘Actually inpolitics it’s those human and lateral connections that are more valuable – we have a brilliant Civil Service who are brilliant at straight line thinking and part of our job is to make the connections.’
Mr Hancock also seized on the chance to tease Boris Johnson (pictured at the conference today) about his lengthy tirades on Brexit.
He added: ‘I care a lot about clarity… actually the best advice when it comes inside the government, the best writing, uses fewer words rather than more.
‘I live by this adage of Mark Twain’s ”I didn’t have time to write you a short letter so I wrote you a long one instead”.’
Separately in a GQ interview, Mr Hancock said technology had helped him overcome the difficulties presented by the condition.
He said: ‘I think if Microsoft had invented spellcheck five years later it would have had a massive negative impact on my career.
‘By the time I got to the workplace, everything was done on word processors and that solved my very serious spelling problem.
‘I have never talked about this because it’s a weakness, and people don’t like talking about weakness, it makes you feel vulnerable, but with the help of technology, dyslexia helps you think laterally because you have to work your way round problems.’