“The case is closed”, Boris Johnson announced on Friday June 25 after a resounding scoop from Sun revealing extramarital affair between Matt Hancock, his minister of health, and a collaborator, in defiance of the rules of sanitary distancing. Mr. Hancock did not last twenty-four hours: Saturday June 26, the ambitious Conservative MP, on the front line since the start of the pandemic, announced that he had presented his resignation to the British Prime Minister in a short video posted on the network social Twitter.
“I want to apologize once again for not having respected the recommendations, and to apologize to my family and my relatives for having subjected them [ce scandale] “, said Matt Hancock, 42, adding that “From the benches of the deputies, I will continue to support the government and the Prime Minister, so that we can emerge from this pandemic, whereas we are so close to its end, and to rebuild ourselves better”.
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On Friday, the first print run by the British tabloid press featured a photo that was a little blurry but left little room for doubt. In this screenshot of a surveillance camera (dated May 6, in the premises of the Ministry of Health), we can see the Minister of Health kissing a woman full on the mouth. This is Gina Coladangelo, 43, a collaborator. Saturday, the Sun uploaded an even more self-explanatory short video.
“I did not respect the rules of social distancing”
Mr. Hancock is married with three children, and Mr.me Coladangelo is in a relationship with Oliver Tress, founder of the ready-to-wear brand Oliver Bonas. But the scandal is not here: in early May, the British were still not supposed to have close contact with people outside their bubble or household – this recommendation was not lifted until May 17.
These rules of “social distancing”, Matt Hancock has never ceased to remind them. On May 16, for example, live on the Sky News channel, this economist by training and former collaborator of the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, still affirmed: “We all have to be careful, we all know the risks, meeting outdoors is better than indoors. “ In 2020, he had been among the toughest on star epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, welcoming his resignation from the scientific council advising the government, after the Daily Telegraph revealed he received a woman at his home during the first lockdown.
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