New leaked messages between Matt Hancock and officials show the then health secretary scrambled to save his career after footage emerged of his embrace with aide Gina Coladangelo. They are among the latest set of WhatsApp correspondence to emerge from the leak of more than 100,000 messages by journalist Isabel Oakeshott to the Daily Telegraph.
The latest tranche to be published, centre on the hours after Hancock discovered that leaked footage, showing him breaching social distancing rules, would appear on the front page of the Sun in June 2021. He resigned as health secretary shortly afterwards.
The messages, published by the Telegraph, show Hancock discussing the guidance in place at the time and deciding what his initial response to media questions should be. As he awaits publication, Hancock asks a special adviser: “How bad are the pics?”
