04 March 2023 , 08:00
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New leaked messages between Matt Hancock and officials show the then health secretary scrambling 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 Mr Hancock discovered that leaked footage from a camera in his office, showing him breaching social distancing rules, would appear in June 2021.
Forty-one hours later he resigned as health secretary and a flurry of WhatsApp messages show how Mr Hancock reacted to the fallout from the CCTV.
Hancock, pictured with Gina Coladangelo at his book launch in December 2022, was filmed during the pandemic embracing his lover in leaked CCTV (Andrew Parsons / Parsons Media)The messages, published by the Telegraph, show Mr Hancock discussing the guidance in place at the time and deciding what his initial response to media questions should be.
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As he awaits publication, Mr Hancock asks a special adviser: "How bad are the pics?"
Told it's a "snog and heavy petting", he replies: "How the f- did anyone photograph that?"
The messages also show the reaction of Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo to a video obtained by The Sun.
"OMFG", Ms Coladangelo said.
Mr Hancock said: "Crikey. Not sure there's much news value in that and I can't say it's very enjoyable viewing."
In his diaries, worked on with Ms Oakeshott and published last year, Mr Hancock said that he resigned as health secretary after colleagues failed to defend him publicly.
By his own account, he said that Boris Johnson had assured him he could carry on even though he and Ms Coladangelo had been pictured kissing in his office in breach of his own social-distancing guidelines.
But after the story broke, Mr Hancock said he found himself "increasingly isolated" politically and was left with no choice but to quit.
The messages show Mr Hancock and his advisers discussing among themselves and liaising with Number 10 about how to respond to the story, amid an unfolding political storm.
They also reveal that he asked his former mentor and ex-chancellor George Osborne for advice, as he prepared to resign.
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Earlier this week Mr Hancock said that he was the victim of a "massive betrayal and breach of trust" after the disclosure of WhatsApp messages revealing the inside working of Government during the coronavirus crisis.
The former health secretary also apologised for the impact of the release of the messages on those he had worked with during the pandemic.
Mr Hancock gave the messages to Ms Oakeshott as they collaborated on his memoirs, but she subsequently handed them to the Telegraph newspaper, which has published a series of stories based on the correspondence with fellow ministers and officials.
Mr Hancock said: "I am hugely disappointed and sad at the massive betrayal and breach of trust by Isabel Oakeshott.
"I am also sorry for the impact on the very many people - political colleagues, civil servants and friends - who worked hard with me to get through the pandemic and save lives."
He said there was "absolutely no public interest case for this huge breach" because all the material used for his Pandemic Diaries book was given to the Covid-19 public inquiry.
A spokesperson for Mr Hancock said: "There’s nothing new in these messages, and absolutely no public interest in publishing them given the independent inquiry has them all. It’s highly intrusive, completely inappropriate and has all been discussed endlessly before."