Amelia Cutting
Last Thursday (24 June), still images of Matt Hancock, 42, kissing his aide Gina Colangelo, 43, were published by The Sun.
Following this, Matt Hancock announced his resignation on Saturday (26 June).
In a public statement, Matt Hancock apologised: “I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances. 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.”
His actions have consequently led to a number of questions and concerns about the operation of government.
“loyalty is normally a virtue. But it became clear within hours that Matt Hancock was losing the confidence of the public”
Boris Johnson’s Actions against Matt Hancock
The PM has faced numerous questions over why he did not sack Mr Hancock when the story was first published.
Mr Johnson, despite claiming that the dismissal of Mr Hancock and the appointment of Sajid Javid happened at the “right pace”, initially said that he considered the matter “closed” after Mr Hancock publicly apologised for breaching social distancing laws.
Many Conservative MPs, however, did not agree with Johnson’s acceptance of Mr Hancock’s apology and put pressure on the government to dismiss him.
Not one Cabinet colleague backed Mr Hancock or Mr Johnson on social media.
Backbencher, Andrew Bridgen, said that the PM had made an error of judgement in trying to keep Mr Hancock in his position.
“Loyalty is normally a virtue. But it became clear within hours that Matt Hancock was losing the confidence of the public.”
Part of Mr Hancock’s job as Health Secretary is to protect the NHS, personally enforcing social distancing rules for this very reason.
The lack of support he had from Tory MP’s meant there was nothing to break his fall.
“It was the silence of friends rather than the damnation by enemies that was a big factor in Mr Hancock’s decision to quit.”
Matt Hancock Abuses Email Privileges
The government is facing further questions after The Sunday Times reported yesterday (27 June) that Mr Hancock potentially breached ministerial guidelines by using his personal email account for government business.
Government guidelines state that where government business is conducted using private email addresses, steps must be taken to “ensure the relevant information is accessible.”
The Labour party has demanded that a “full-scale investigation” take place into whether private emails were used to discuss government contracts and if the law was broken.
The Department of Health and Social Care has made it clear that “the former health secretary only ever conducted government business through their departmental email addresses.”
Gina Coladangelo’s Position in Government
The government has also come under scrutiny over Mrs Coladangelo’s position as Mr Hancock’s advisor.
She was appointed as a non-executive director of the Cabinet in September last year, a position revealed to have been given quietly and with a £15,000 role in his department.
A government spokesperson said that her initial appointment was “made in the usual way” and “followed correct procedure.”
It emerged that she had been handed a parliamentary pass, giving her unregulated access to the Palace of Westminster.
Mrs Coladangelo was then able to accompany Mr Hancock to confidential meetings with civil servants and visit No.10, exciting more questions about their friendship.
Public Response
Nigel Farage predicted the public’s discontentment at Hancock’s actions: “People were tiring of the rules already. Now, after the Hancock hypocrisy, there will undoubtedly be mass rule-breaking.”
Views on #MattHancock 👇 – some of these responses to his breaking of the rules are utterly searing https://t.co/3ow5xWOjr6
— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) June 25, 2021
In Sussex, 5,000 people gathered at an illegal rave on the South Downs National Park just hours after Mr Hancock resigned.
Tens of thousands of maskless anti-lockdown protestors marched the streets of London in the latest Freedom March and hundreds of people mixed in a drink-fuelled night out in Blackpool.
Privacy and CCTV Concerns
“If anybody thinks that the resignation of Matt Hancock is the end of the issue I think they’re wrong,” said Labour leader, Keir Starmer.
The private nature of the photos and videos published, and whether they had a right to be leaked to the public is another pressing concern. The Sun has said that the images came from ‘a concerned Whitehall whistleblower’ and were taken inside the Department of Health and Social Care on the 6th May.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said ‘we have got to be concerned about the fact that someone was able to secure a recording from inside a government building.
Ministers do need to have the ability to have frank, private conversations with their senior officials to debate things so that they can understand issues, and know that those conversations will remain private’, he added.
Matt Hancock’s Right to Privacy
As a high profile MP, the interest of the public overrides Mr Hancock’s personal rights to privacy for several reasons:
- The alleged affair took place during working hours, questioning Mr Hancock’s focus and responsibilities in pushing the UK on through Covid-19.
- The spending of taxpayers’ money on Coladangelo’s appointment to the Department of Health’s oversight board.
- Breaking his own social distancing law.
What conclusion will be drawn from this is still unclear, but Mr Hancock has undeniably created irreversible damage to public faith in government.
Featured image courtesy of Nick Kane on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Amelia Cutting
I'm Amelia- a graduate from the University of Leeds and current NCTJ Level 5 Diploma student!