Sure, Matt Hancock could have been wrongfully accused of cheating on his wife and breaking his own social distancing guideline in May 2020, but I would wager the evidence is not in his favour. But for the sake of the argument, let’s look a little deeper into his political career, and ultimately, how Matt got into the rather unfortunate situation he is in today.
When he moved from Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in 2018, he aimed to progress the technology of healthcare, focusing on improving this within the NHS. To his credit, he successfully banned the NHS buying fax machines, seeking to improve the standard of care and communication between Hospitals and GPs and replace these outdated systems. He also has continued his predecessors work on genomes which will help in the treatment of people with serious or terminal illnesses.
So, now we have looked at some of his successes as Health Secretary, let’s look at some of his (rather immense) failures. Not including the tens of thousands of avoidable deaths from COVID-19, he has, it would seem reasonable to say, made his fair share of mistakes. One example of this is the failed Test and Trace system that cost around £37 million. While the idea of creating such a system is, I believe, an objectively good one, the execution left much to be desired and contributed very little to helping battle Coronavirus. Over the course of the year, he has been involved in many scandals, from not providing healthcare workers with appropriate PPE, to improper contracts surrounding the virus. Of course, by far his biggest scandal (so far!) has to be his affair with Gina Coladangelo.
Now, to say this adultery is hypocritical is an understatement. Not only has he been encouraging the British public to stay at home when possible and abide by social distancing rules – neither of which he seems to be following himself – but this affair seems particularly ironic in light of his remarks about Professor Neil Ferguson. Hancock told Sky News, “It’s extraordinary. I don’t understand” after hearing about Ferguson’s visits to see his lover, before urging people to stick to the lockdown rules… Ironic, right?
But okay, let’s not be too quick to judge, after all studies have shown that around 1 in 5 people have an affair, while 75% of men and 68% of women admit to cheating in some way. Is Matt Hancock’s behaviour really that unusual? While it might be reasonable to expect better from our politicians, he is human. After all – it’s not as if he has a wife and three children at home, nor as if he left his wife hours before finding out about the Sun’s discovery, now that would be terrible!
What I think was most shocking to the British public is, apart from the fact that Hancock has actually managed to attract two women of course, is that he was trusted, somewhat blindly, throughout the entire COVID-19 ordeal; only for his hypocrisy to be revealed. It also seems to have caused outrage that Matt Hancock chose to hire (for the small expense of £15,000 per year) what at first appeared to be his close friend and now has been revealed to be his lover, creating uncertainty over her eligibility of the position and his motivation for making her his aide.
Whether he is in fact merely a victim of human nature (as affairs are unfortunately common) or a hypocritical adulterer, I think it can be agreed that he did the right thing in resigning. It seems reasonable to say that his job cannot have been easy throughout these unprecedented times and despite his many failures, he did at least attempt to navigate the difficult task of dealing with coronavirus.
I think it is safe to assume he will not be returning to front-line politics anytime soon, having been so humiliated by the media (is this article included in that?) and, with reports suggesting he has now left his wife, I am sure he will be content Gina Coladangelo. Well, I’m sure Matt Hancock certainly hopes so for all the fuss it’s caused.
