By Ben Kerrigan-
Matt Hancock has been forced to resign as Health Secretary after Ministers and grass root conservatives broke ranks to insist he was sacked.
The fate of either resignation or dismissal was starring him in the face, ever since the astonishing revelation by The Sun Newspaper that Hancock cheated on his wife by passionately kissing his closest aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his ministerial office – in breach of his own Covid-19 rules . Hancock apologized last Friday- an apology accepted by Boris Johnson-but not by the troubled Mps who judged his offence unpardonable as far as keeping his job.
His resignation drew the curtains on four weeks of sustained attacks on Hancock’s integrity, after Dominic Cummings told Mps he should have been sacked 15-2o times, and later release whassap messages in which Boris Johnson had said he was hopeless. The news that he withheld documents stating the effectiveness of vaccines against the variants for three days, releasing them moments before the meeting to extend the lockdown, was all beginning to look very suspicious. Then the big one with the kissing of his aide during coronavirus restrictions, made it morally and politically improper for him to stay in government.
Boris’s acceptance of Hancock’s apology is politics at best, the prime minister saving Hancock the shame of a formal dismissal, while the practicalities of the matter plays itself out. The prime minister’s loss of confidence in Hancock has been made public, but Boris Johnson, not wanting to openly dismiss the colleague he says is full og beans, has left him to do it himself.
Hancock played his role in government during the pandemic, contributing to the drive to social distancing, believed to have been necessary during the heights of the pandemic in March 2020. But questions over his handling of various aspects of the pandemic, including testing for care homes, began to stalk him.In breaking social distancing rules, he set a bad example, though he had received his vaccination by then.
In his resignation letter Hancock said: “We have worked so hard as a country to fight the pandemic. The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis. I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologize to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need [to] be with my children at this time.”
Johnson said in his reply that he was sorry to lose Hancock and that he “should leave office very proud of what you have achieved – not just in tackling the pandemic, but even before Covid-19 struck us”. But Johnson appeared to offer a way back to government. “I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over.