Health Secretary Matt Hancock ‘is having affair’ with his closest aide, according to reports
Health Secretary Matt Hancock ‘is having affair’ with his closest aide, 43, after pair were caught on camera having a passionate clinch outside his Whitehall office
- Matt Hancock, 42, is allegedly having an affair with lobbyist Gina Coladangelo
- The Sun reports Health Secretary caught kissing mother-of-three at Whitehall
- Health Secretary Hancock has been married for 15 years and has three children
- A source told the Sun they had ‘no comment’ but denied Covid rules breached
Matt Hancock is today at the centre of a jaw-dropping cheating scandal after claims emerged of an alleged affair with his closest aide.
The Health Secretary, 42, has been caught on camera in a passionate clinch with millionaire lobbyist Gina Coladangelo, according to the Sun.
The incident is alleged to have taken place outside his office at the Department for Health’s headquarters in London.
Mr Hancock has been married for 15 years to wife Martha, and the pair have three children together.
Communications director and lobbyist Mrs Coladangelo meanwhile is a mother-of-three, whose husband is the founder of clothing shop Oliver Bonas.
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Mr Hancock for a comment.
A friend of Mr Hancock’s reportedly told the Sun they had ‘no comment’ on the matter, but that ‘no rules’ had been breached.
The Health Secretary, 42, has reportedly been seen having a passionate clinch with millionaire lobbyist Gina Coladangelo (pictured here with Matt Hancock outside Downing Street), according to the Sun
Mr Hancock has been married for 15 years to wife Martha, with whom they have three children
It comes after photographs appearing to show Mr Hancock kissing Mrs Coladangelo were published in the paper.
In the pictures, which appear to be from CCTV footage, Mr Hancock also appears to have his hand on the woman’s backside.
Meanwhile, source told the Sun that it was ‘shocking that Mr Hancock was having an affair in the middle of a pandemic’.
According to paper, the incident took place around 3pm on May 6, on the day of the local elections.
But whistleblower reportedly told the paper that they have been caught having ‘regular clinches together’.
The source reportedly told the paper: ‘It has also shocked people because he put her in such an important, publicly-funded role and this is what they get up to in office hours when everyone else is working hard.’
Mrs Coladangelo, who is a director and shareholder at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon, was appointed to the Department of Health as an unpaid adviser in March last year.
Mrs Coladangelo (pictured here with husband Oliver Tress – the founder of the Oliver Bonas clothing chain), who is a director and shareholder at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon, was appointed to the Department of Health as an unpaid adviser in March last year
Mrs Coladangelo was appointed as a non-executive director at the department in September, meaning she is a member of the board.
She can claim up to £15,000 in taxpayers’ money in the role, though there is no public record of her appointment.
Mrs Coladangelo has had a parliamentary pass, which gives her access to Westminster, since April.
Reports of Mr Hancock’s alleged affair come just a day after the Queen expressed her sympathy for the Health Secretary.
She referred to him as ‘poor man’ as she welcomed Boris Johnson back to Buckingham Palace for her first in-person weekly audience with the Prime Minister since March last year.
The monarch told Mr Johnson it was ‘very nice to see you again’ and the premier replied: ‘Lovely to see you again. It has been 15 months…’
The Queen then said: ‘Has it really? It is most extraordinary, isn’t it? I have just been talking to your Secretary of State for Health, poor man, he came to the privy council. He is full of…’
Mr Johnson interrupted and suggested ‘full of beans’ as the Queen then continued: ‘He thinks that things are getting better.’
Mr Johnson replied: ‘Well, they are…’
The expression of sympathy from the monarch comes after Mr Hancock found himself at the centre of a political firestorm after Dominic Cummings published text messages from the PM in which Mr Johnson referred to the Cabinet minister as ‘totally f****** hopeless’.
The Health Secretary dismissed the significance of the bombshell messages from Mr Johnson.
Mr Hancock said the communications, sent during the height of the coronavirus crisis last year, represented ‘ancient history’.
He said that ‘at times of stress people say all sorts of things in private’ but ‘what matters most is how well you work together’.
The Cabinet Minister also said he is not embarrassed by Mr Johnson’s apparent assessment of his performance.
Mr Cummings, the PM’s former chief aide, stepped up his war with Number 10 last week when he published a number of messages sent to him by Mr Johnson.
In one exchange from March 27 last year, Mr Cummings criticised the Health Secretary over the failure to ramp up testing, with Mr Johnson replying: ‘Totally f****** hopeless.’
Another from the same day saw Mr Cummings complain that the Department of Health had been turning down ventilators because ‘the price has been marked up’. Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s Hancock. He has been hopeless.’
On April 27, Mr Johnson apparently messaged Mr Cummings to say that PPE procurement was a ‘disaster’, suggesting that responsibility should be taken away from the Health Secretary.
‘I can’t think of anything except taking Hancock off and putting Gove on,’ the PM said.
Mr Hancock was asked last week, during an interview with the BBC Breakfast programme, how he felt about the PM describing him as ‘hopeless’.
He said: ‘Honestly? It feels like ancient history, right? The vaccine programme is a huge success.
‘At times of stress people say all sorts of things in private. What matters is how well you work together.
‘You are referring to comments apparently from the Prime Minister. I work with the Prime Minister every single day.
‘We work very strongly together, firstly to protect life and secondly to get the country out of this. That is what matters.’
Told that it must be embarrassing for him to know Mr Johnson had said such things, Mr Hancock replied: ‘No, it isn’t really because of all the things we have delivered together.’
