UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigns after kiss with aide 

Mr Hancock apologised to his family and said he needed to be with his children at this time.

Images and video showed Mr Hancock in an embrace with aide Gina Coladangelo last month, and the Health Secretary was facing increasing pressure to quit over the breaking of social-distancing rules. Picture: Matt Dunham/PA Wire

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has resigned following after he was caught kissing a close aide in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

He submitted his resignation to the British Prime Minister this evening and apologised for breaking the public health restrictions.

Mr Hancock also apologised to his family and said he needed to be with his children at this time.

Images and video showed Mr Hancock in an embrace with aide Gina Coladangelo last month, and the Health Secretary was facing increasing pressure to quit over the breaking of social-distancing rules.

The people of the UK deserve honesty when a member of government has let them down as he had, the resignation letter said.

"The last thing I would want is for my personal life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis," said Mr Hancock.

He paid tribute to NHS staff and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) officials and admitted that “we didn’t get every decision right”.

But he said: “I know people understand how hard it is to deal with the unknown, making the difficult trade-off between freedom, prosperity and health that we have faced.” 

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Hancock said: “I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, you have made. And those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”

pic.twitter.com/ahnqHy6yT9

— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) June 26, 2021

He thanked Boris Johnson for his "unwavering support" as well as his leadership and optimism throughout the fight against Covid.

In his response, Mr Johnson made no reference to his former Health Secretary being caught in a compromising position but said he was “sorry” to receive the resignation. He praised his work in his role both before and during the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Johnson wrote: “You should leave office very proud of what you have achieved – not just in tackling the pandemic, but even before Covid-19 struck us.” 

He concluded his letter by saying: "You should be immensely proud of your service. I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over.”

Mr Johnson had refused to sack Mr Hancock, with his spokesman saying the PM considered the matter closed after receiving the West Suffolk MP’s apology on Friday.

Both the Labour and SNP Westminster leaders have criticised Mr Johnson for not sacking Mr Hancock before he had a chance to resign.

Taking to Twitter following the news of Mr Hancock stepping down, the SNP's Ian Blackford called it a "massive failure" by the Prime Minister adding "a fish rots from its head. So does this UK Government".