Matt Hancock has apologised after CCTV images emerged of the Health Secretary allegedly kissing his aide.
The health secretary, who has been married for 15 years, has been allegedly caught on camera embracing lobbyist Gina Coladangelo, who he hired as an unpaid advisor in March last year, The Sun reported on Friday morning.
He has now apologised for breaching social distancing guidance after the photographs were published, adding: "I have let people down and am very sorry".
The incident is alleged to have taken place in the corridor outside his Department of Health office.
Mr Hancock said in a statement: "I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances.
"I have let people down and am very sorry.
"I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter."
His statement comes after Grant Shapps has said he believes coronavirus rules were followed.
Asked whether the Health Secretary should have been “ignoring social distancing”, Mr Shapps said on LBC radio: "I’m quite sure that whatever the rules were at the time were followed.
"You’ll recall that there was a point at which social distancing rules were changed but, as I say, I don’t want to comment on somebody else’s private life – that is for them."
Mr Hancock hired Ms Coladangelo as an unpaid adviser on a six-month contract in March last year, before appointing her as a non-executive director at the department.
He met Ms Coladangelo at Oxford University, where they both worked on the student radio station.
Ms Coladangelo is the marketing and communications director at Oliver Bonas, a British retailer founded by her husband, Oliver Tress.
Mr Shapps earlier told Sky News that Gina Coladangelo would have gone through an “incredibly rigorous” process to get the job.
