FOND FRIEND
Matt Hancock & future mistress aide seen in Oxford University snap where pair become close as students
MATT Hancock stands near a student thought to be Gina Coladangelo in a newly-unearthed photo taken at the launch of a student radio station.
The archived image shows the future Health Secretary close to the woman who would go on to become one of his closest friends - and his involvement with whom may now mark the end of his top-flight political career.
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Boris Johnson has refused to fire Mr Hancock after The Sun printed bombshell images of the West Suffolk MP in a clinch with Mrs Coladangelo while at work.
But Health Secretary finally quit amid mounting pressure from Tory colleagues over images of him kissing and cuddling Gina Coladangelo in a breach of coronavirus restrictions.
Caving to pressure to quit over the affair, Hancock wrote a resignation letter to the PM, saying: "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."
It comes as...
- Matt Hancock announced he was resigning almost 48 hours after his affair with his aide was exposed
- The Health Secretary told his wife he was leaving her as the affair was revealed
- Gina Coladangelo has left her position on the Department of Health board after the affair with Hancock
- Read Matt Hancock's resignation letter in full
- Boris Johnson told Hancock 'you should be proud of what you've achieved' as he accepted his resignation
The footage was captured while hugging loved ones was still advised against.
According to , Hancock's wife Martha had no idea her husband was having an affair until he broke the news and announced that their marriage was over.
Hancock reportedly raced home after being told about The Sun's revelations.
Hancock's allies have said the politician and Coladangelo are “love match” and are planning to set up home together.
Just 10 days after the kiss, patronising Mr Hancock warned: "We must be careful."
Now, a photograph of he and Mrs Coladangelo has emerged in
In the photo, Mr Hancock takes centre-stage in a tweed jacket and rugby shirt. He poses with his hands in his pockets alongside other students working on Oxygen 107.9 FM at the University of Oxford.
On the right-hand side of the photo is believed to be Mrs Coladangelo, holding a file of notes.
The pair - both of whom studied politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) during their time at the world-famous university - worked together at the radio station, with Mrs Coladangelo presenting news, while Mr Hancock reported on sports.
Mrs Coladangelo also attended university alongside Mr Hancock's osteopath wife Martha, 44. The two women graduated around the same time.
It's not known if the women were acquaintances there - but both remain friends on Facebook.
The Hancocks, who also met at university, have three children, two boys and a girl and Mrs Coladangelo is also understood to be a mother of three.
The image came to light after The Sun shared a clip of Mr Hancock taking Mrs Coladangelo into his arms.
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The Health Secretary raised eyebrows when he hired his old pal secretly - using taxpayers' cash - part-way through the pandemic.
Sources claim her work for him was "mysterious", but the pair were always together.
It isn't known how long an affair has been continuing, although the news was allegedly an open secret in the Department of Health.
Mr Hancock apologised for breaching social distancing with DoH non-executive director Gina, the wife of Oliver Bonas founder Oliver Tress.
He made no public apology to his wife of 15 years, Martha, 44, with whom he shares three children.
She has been seen out in public still wearing her wedding ring since news broke.
This morning, MP Duncan Baker became the first frontline Tory to openly back the public and say the minister must go.
Mr Baker, MP for North Norfolk, told his local newspaper that the Health Secretary "has fallen short" of "the appropriate morals and ethics" that apply to someone in his position - and has told the Government his feelings "in the strongest possible terms".
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Top officials at the Met Police have confirmed they won't be investigating the affair.
Now sources from the Government say they've also ruled out a mole hunt - because if the person responsible for the leak was tracked down, they could claim they were a whistleblower exposing wrongdoing.
One said: “They aren’t going to do a leak inquiry."
The minister groped Mrs Coladangelo months after saying Professor Neil Ferguson should be investigated by police for his lockdown affair.
Unlike Mr Hancock, Prof Ferguson resigned from his Government role after news he'd flouted regulations was revealed.
TV firebrand Piers Morgan said: "At the time he was ordering the British people not to hug anyone from other households…"
And last night, he said: "Remember: Matt Hancock was so disgusted about Neil Ferguson breaking social distancing rules with a lover, that he demanded he resign and said he’d back a police prosecution.
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"Hancock’s stinking brazen hypocrisy is outrageous and pathetic, as is Boris Johnson's refusal to sack him."
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Elsewhere, Mrs Colandangelo left her family home with a boot packed full of possessions after discovering her affair would be exposed.
She drove off in her £70,000 Audi Q7 from outside her £3.6million property - and has not yet returned.
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Grant Shapps says Matt Hancock's affair with aide Gina Coladangelo is an 'entirely personal issue' but there is no 'shortcutting' on civil service appointments
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