And just like that, one day after claiming he won’t quit, he is out.
Matt Hanock, the minister charged with eradicating Britain’s biggest postwar health crisis, quit on Saturday night in the face of an avalanche of fierce criticism of his secret affair with an adviser whom he put on the public payroll.
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) June 26, 2021
“We have worked so hard as a country to fight the pandemic,” Hancock, 42, said in his letter of resignation to Johnson one day after pictures of him kissing and groping his top aide – a friend hired last year – at a time he forced everyone else into mandatory lockdowns were splashed on the front page of the Sun newspaper.
“The last thing I want is for my private life to distract from the single-minded approach that is leading us out of this crisis.”
Hancock’s resignation came after The Sun published photos of Hancock and Gina Coladangelo, whom he’d appointed to his team, apparently embracing in his Whitehall offices last month. Initially Hancock tried to keep his job and Johnson backed him on Friday, saying the matter was closed.Initially Hancock tried to keep his job and Johnson backed him on Friday, saying the matter was closed.
But pressure continued to mount on Saturday after senior officials in Johnson’s Conservative Party said the minister’s behavior was beyond the pale, with one highlighting the hypocrisy of Hancock flouting the same rules that he helped create. – READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --