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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Chiara Fiorillo

Matt Hancock seen for first time since affair revealed as lover removes wedding ring

The former Health Secretary has been spotted in public for the first time since his affair was revealed.

Matt Hancock stepped down from his Cabinet role after footage leaked from a CCTV camera inside his office showed him kissing and hugging his aide Gina Coladangelo, breaching his own coronavirus restrictions.

Yesterday, he was seen at a vaccination centre at Newmarket Racecourse in his Suffolk constituency while his lover was spotted strolling near her London home, the Daily Mail reports.

It is thought Ms Coladangelo still lives with her husband Oliver Tress and their three children, but pictures taken near their home showed she was not wearing her wedding ring.

Mr Hancock was photographed alone at the vaccine centre - where it is thought he went to get his second Covid-19 jab.

Footage from a CCTV camera inside Mr Hancock's office showed him kissing and hugging his aide Gina Coladangelo (Image: The Sun)

Pictures taken by a passer-by show him looking at his phone in a parked car in Newmarket.

Student Guilherme Cavaleiro, 20, who visited the venue to get his first jab, told the Daily Mail: "I glanced at him and thought he looked familiar. I took a second look and realised it was Mr Hancock.

"We didn't exchange any words – he looked very thoughtful, just staring at his mobile phone."

When the former Health Secretary was told by The Sun that they had obtained the CCTV footage of him and Ms Coladangelo, Mr Hancock told his wife Martha he was leaving her.

Mr Hancock left his wife Martha when his affair was revealed (Nigel Howard)

The couple had been married for 15 years, having met at university.

The announcement surprised Martha, who thought they were "happy and stable", according to The Sunday Times.

Mr Hancock even reportedly woke up their youngest child, who is eight years old, to say that he was leaving.

Matt Hancock resigned from his position as Health Secretary (Getty Images)

He later resigned as Health Secretary and in a letter to Boris Johnson he said: "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 apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need to be with my children at this time."

He said: "We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance."

He paid tribute to NHS staff and Department of Health and Social Care 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."

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