London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Sep 28, 2025

Boris Johnson has backed Matt Hancock following his affair…but what else could the UK’s famously philandering PM do?

Boris Johnson has backed Matt Hancock following his affair…but what else could the UK’s famously philandering PM do?

It may well prove to have been the smartest move of his political career, as UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock is caught in a tryst with an aide. And it’s proof times have changed in the once moralising cesspit of Westminster.
Not so long ago, if a politician was caught with his pants down then he was generally toast. His career was over. The theory being that if he couldn't be trusted by his wife, how the hell could the electorate trust him to be in power, to act in our name?

There have been loads of these scandals in Britain over the years, from the Profumo affair in the 1960s in which the Secretary of State for War John Profumo's affair with 19-year-old Christine Keeler helped bring down Harold Macmillan's government, to Cecil Parkinson in the 1980s – a favourite of Margaret Thatcher who had a love child with his mistress and was forced to resign as secretary of state for transport.

The press, and the public, loved these stories. Though, the one about Prime Minister John Major's affair with Edwina Currie when they were both MPs wasn't quite as juicy – nobody wanted to picture those two hideous lumps naked, let alone having sex together. And, anyway, it didn't come to light until long after they'd left office.

On the other side of the pond, of course, there was Bill Clinton and his infamous placement of a cigar inside an intern called Monica Lewinsky. It got the 42nd President of the United States impeached, but he hung onto his job.

Boris Johnson could never sack a minister on moral grounds, it would be impossible. BoJo is a man who has long been incapable of keeping his own pants on, how could he possibly sack any of his ministers for doing the same?

And so it came to pass. Health Secretary Matt Hancock was quite possibly in line for the chop pretty soon. Seeing as the PM had already branded him ‘hopeless’ and the Queen called him that ‘poor man’. He was looking, quite frankly, adrift and hapless – Haplessly Hopeless Hancock.

Ah ha. But now he’s been nabbed by the Sun in a steamy clinch with a woman he handed a cushy job to. Hancock and mum-of-three Gina Coladangelo are both married. Hancock apologised for breaking social distancing rules but notably did not apologise to his wife, nor their three children.

“I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances,” Hancock said in a statement. “I have let people down and am very sorry. I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”

The opposition parties, of course, called for the prime minister to sack him immediately. “If Matt Hancock has been secretly having a relationship with an adviser in his office – who he personally appointed to a taxpayer-funded role – it is a blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest,” said Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds. “His position is hopelessly untenable. Boris Johnson should sack him.”

No chance. A statement was quickly put out from 10 Downing Street accepting Hancock’s apology for breaking social distancing rules in order to snog his mistress and that the PM now “considers the matter closed.”

Hancock, quite frankly, didn’t look like he had it in him. And it could well prove to be a veritable boon to his career prospects. He has something in common now with BoJo. Johnson’s list of sexual shenanigans is long and varied, including an alleged four-year affair with adviser Jennifer Arcuri when he was mayor of London.

The health secretary’s affair with his aide was, apparently, common knowledge in Westminster circles. It’s a wonder the Sun didn’t get those pictures sooner… I bet BoJo’s spurned aide Dominic Cummings knew all about it. And Dom, it’s fair to say, isn’t a big fan.

Ah, what a bummer though. As a journalist, it used to be fun to chase philandering politicians and slowly prise their fingers away from power, but now it could turn out you’d just be handing the unfaithful git a career boost. In fact, if they time it just right for when their job prospects are truly in the toilet, they could even get promoted.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
Corrupt UK Politician Ed Davey Demands Elon Musk’s Arrest for Supporting Democracy
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
×