Matt Hancock has resigned as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care after photos surfaced of him kissing his closest aide, Gina Coladangelo, pictured together in 2019.
Hancock, a member of the Conservative Party in England, was under pressure to resign after The Sun newspaper published pictures of him embracing and kissing Coladangelo.
The newspaper said the photos were taken inside the Department of Health on May 6. The photos show Hancock and Colandangelo locked in an intimate embrace and kissing passionately.
Ms. Coladangelo, pictured with Hancock in 2019, is married with three children.
Mr. Hancock married Martha Hoyer Miller in 2006. They have three children.
Hancock’s stoic wife, Martha, was spotted outside her north-west London home on June 24 after the scandalous photos were published. She was still wearing her wedding band.
Hancock’s extramarital affair angered Britains, particularly since Hancock advised Prime Minister Boris Johnson to force Brits to socially distance and wear face masks.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told BBC News it was not the affair that angered the public “but the hypocrisy of being someone who makes the rules and then broke the rules”.
Hancock reportedly chose to resign and was not forced out of his position by the prime minister.
Ms. Coladangelo is also leaving her position as a non-executive director of the Department of Health. It is unclear if she was fired for fraternizing on the job.
