Matt Hancock was clinging to his job on Friday morning after being photographed apparently breaking government social distancing rules by embracing a paid adviser in his office.
The Health Secretary declined to comment on reports he has been having an affair with his aide, Gina Coladangelo, in the Department of Health and Social Care.
Mr Hancock’s position is made even more difficult to defend after he said last year that Prof Neil Ferguson was right to quit as a government adviser after The Telegraph revealed that he had breached lockdown rules to see his lover.
This morning a former Conservative minister said Boris Johnson should “chop” Mr Hancock today to avoid a re-run of the Dominic Cummings saga when the PM was politically damaged for failing to fire his chief adviser for breaching lockdown rules.
Mr Hancock, 42, appeared to be kissing Ms Coladangelo, 43, in what seemed to be captured CCTV footage taken on May 6 from the Department of Health’s London headquarters.
The Sun revealed pictures of the Health Secretary in an embrace with his aide, who he hired last year with taxpayers’ money, in what the newspaper called a “steamy clinch”.
‘Stay 2m apart’
The timing of the embrace was in clear breach of the Government’s social distancing rules on embracing someone from outside his social bubble.
The guidance in place since March 2020 had ordered people to stay two metres apart from anyone outside their household or bubble. The rules were only relaxed on May 17.
They stated at the time of Mr Hancock’s embrace that if people left their home, they had to “stay at least two metres away from people you do not live with or who are not in your support bubble”.
They should also “avoid direct contact and face-to-face contact with people you do not live with”, and “stay at least 2metres away from anyone who visits your home for work reasons”.
Mr Hancock is also under pressure because last year he said that Prof Ferguson “took the right decision to resign” when he travelled to see his lover.
At the time Mr Hancock said he had been left speechless by Prof Ferguson’s behaviour, adding: “I think he took the right decision to resign. I think the social distancing rules are very important and people should follow them.”
PM urged to act
The Health Secretary also could be accused of breaching three of the seven Nolan principles on standards in public life covering integrity and leadership.
One Conservative MP told The Telegraph: “His position is completely unsustainable. Boris has been through this before with Cummings and he lost an awful lot of political capital by supporting Cummngs.
“Boris cannot afford to expend any more political capital on Matt Hancock. We already know he thinks he is hopeless.
“Boris should make sure he leaves now – he should get rid. Boris is going to get slaughtered over this if he does not get rid of him.
“What he can’t afford is a re-run of Cummings. I am bracing myself for the avalanche of emails I am going to get from constituents asking ‘why is the man still there’.
“We had hundreds and hundreds of emails over Cummings and I don’t want to be in the same position over Hancock. Boris should chop him immediately – today.”
A senior Whitehall source said that Mr Johnson could buy himself some time if he asked his new adviser on standards, Lord Geidt, a former senior aide to the Queen, to investigate.
Who is Matt Hancock’s closest aide, Gina Coladangelo?
Ms Coladangelo is the millionaire communications director at Oliver Bonas, the fashion, jewellery and homeware store founded by her husband, Oliver Tress.
She was hired to work at the Department of Health and Social Care as an unpaid adviser on a six-month contract in March last year, and appointed her as a non-executive director in September.
She is also a director and major shareholder at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon, which boasts clients such as British Airways and Accenture.
She has been using a parliamentary pass sponsored by Lord Bethell, the hereditary peer and health minister, to gain access to Westminster since April.
Mr Hancock and his wife, Martha, have three children together. Ms Coladangelo is also married with three children.
Have any rules been broken?
This morning the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said “the actual issue is entirely personal for Matt Hancock”.
He added: “In terms of rules, anyone who has been appointed has to go through an incredibly rigorous process in Government, so whatever the rules are, the rules will have to be followed.
“There are no shortcuts to that, as anyone who has had anything to do with the appointments system in the Civil Service knows. There are very strict rules in place.”
