MATT Hancock won’t be commenting on reports of an affair with a departmental aide despite photographs showing he and Gina Coladangelo in a “steamy clinch”, friends have said.
The Sun newspaper published photographs appearing to show he and the taxpayer-funded adviser sharing a kiss.
Hancock has been warried to wife Martha for 15 years, and the couple have three children together.
Coladangelo, who is said to have met Hancock at university, is also married and has three children.
READ MORE: Matt Hancock accused of cheating on his wife with close aide Gina Coladangelo
A spokesperson for the UK Government said Coladangelo’s appointment as a non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care was made in the “usual way”, and no rules had been broken.
Grant Shapps, the UK Government Transport Secretary, described the story as a “personal matter”.
Labour are calling for the reports to be looked into to see if there are “conflicts of interest”.
This morning Hancock deleted an Instagram post, made yesterday, seeking more “brilliant women” to join his team.
The story read: “If you’re a woman who wants to get involved in politics swipe up.”
The post, which suggests Hancock was not aware that the story was going to come out, was removed from the platform shortly after 8.45am.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel