London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Matt Hancock quits as health secretary after breaking social distance guidance

Matt Hancock quits as health secretary after breaking social distance guidance

Matt Hancock has resigned as health secretary after he breached social distancing guidance by kissing a colleague.

In a letter to the PM he said the government "owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down".

Boris Johnson said he was "sorry" to receive the resignation.

Former chancellor Sajid Javid has been confirmed as the new health secretary, Downing Street said.

Mr Hancock had been under increasing pressure to quit, after The Sun published pictures of Mr Hancock and Gina Coladangelo, who are both married with three children, kissing. The newspaper said they had been taken inside the Department of Health on 6 May.

Fellow Tory MPs, as well as Labour and the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, had called for the health secretary to be sacked and a senior Tory figure told the BBC that many MPs had told their whips on Saturday that he ought to resign.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said No10 had stressed that it had been Mr Hancock's decision to go and that he had not been pushed out by the prime minister.

She said Ms Coladangelo was also leaving her role as a non-executive director of the Department of Health.

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Hancock said: "I have been to see the prime minister to resign as secretary of state for health and social care.

"I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, that you have made, and those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that's why I have got to resign."


In his resignation letter, Mr Hancock, who served as health secretary for three years, reiterated his apology for "breaking the guidance" and he apologised to his family and loved ones for "putting them through this".


In response, the prime minister said Mr Hancock "should leave office very proud of what you have achieved - not just in tackling the pandemic, but even before Covid-19 struck us".

He added: "I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: "Matt Hancock is right to resign. But Boris Johnson should have sacked him."

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford tweeted: "Massive failure of leadership by Boris Johnson, Hancock should have been sacked."

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted that Mr Hancock's legacy was one of "failure" and he said the fact that Mr Johnson "could just carry on regardless brings the prime minister's judgement into question once again".


One out and one in. The prime minister had backed Matt Hancock to hang on.

The now former health secretary had tried to cling on. But even on Friday senior Tories were directly warning both of them that his position was just not tenable.

Not because of his personal exploits with a taxpayer-supported colleague, but because he broke the rules that he helped to set.

One senior Tory told me it "beggared belief" that the man who had essentially banned casual relationships for a year was caught out having disobeyed the guidance himself, but still tried to maintain his position. Another insider said "everyone hates hypocrisy".

For every moment that he tried to stay both his and Boris Johnson's judgement remained in doubt.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told BBC News it had become clear that a "sizeable minority or even a majority of the public no longer had confidence in Matt Hancock".

Mr Bridgen added it "was not the affair but the hypocrisy of being someone who makes the rules and then broke the rules".

Rivka Gottlieb, from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, told BBC News it was "absolutely right" that Mr Hancock resigned but said she thought he should have been sacked months ago over his "appalling record".

Concerns had also been raised about the process which saw Ms Coladangelo, a friend of Mr Hancock's from their days at Oxford University, appointed to the role - last September.

A No 10 spokesman has insisted the "correct procedure" had been followed but refused to go into detail.

Mr Javid, who is also a former home secretary, quit his role as chancellor in February 2020, weeks before the budget after rejecting the prime minister's order to fire his team of aides.

One of his first jobs will be to examine the data ahead of England's proposed end to Covid restrictions on 19 July.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt described Mr Javid's appointment to the role as an "excellent choice", saying it was the best possible news for social care because his time at the Department for Communities and Local Government meant he "gets it".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×