Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope says Matt Hancock is ‘finished’ and should resign after he was caught kissing his close aide.

Sir Christopher is just one of two Conservative MPs to have broken rank on the issue by publicly calling for Matt Hancock to resign after the Health Secretary was caught kissing Gina Coladangelo. 

A unanimous motion was passed this morning, Saturday, June 26, during the Christchurch constituency AGM calling for the Health Secretary to resign as a result of his actions, possible breaches of the ministerial code and lockdown regulations. 

Sir Christopher said:

“I feel that his position is completely untenable and that he should resign. 

“I think that he should resign rather than be sacked because this should actually be an issue for him and his conscience.”

“One of the benefits of having been around for a long time is that I’ve seen this sort of thing before and the strength of feeling is such, within the party and outside,  that this will not simply go away. 

“The sooner he resigns the better so we can have a new secretary for health who commands public respect. 

“Hancock is finished. 

“The sooner he goes the sooner he can be rehabilitated."

Bournemouth Echo:

Gina Coladangelo and Matt Hancock (PA)

The MP for Christchurch went on to explain that Mr Hancock has lost the respect of the public not just for his actions but also for the way he has reacted to the situation. 

He said: “Taking into account the way he was so quick to criticise others who broke the rules, I am lost for words as to the brazen nature of his behaviour.

“I was delighted when our association passed the motion today because we don’t want people in the constituency to think that we are tolerant and indulgent of this behaviour."

Sir Christopher revealed that he has been inundated with emails from people within the Conservative party, supporters and the general public that they find it ‘incredible’ that Hancock has not resigned.

He said: “This is really serious because there are so many people who have suffered due to the restrictions placed on their freedoms which have been imposed by regulations that Hancock signed off on and he is the person that certified that the emergency nature of those regulations mean they don’t need to be debated in Parliament. 

“He is in the thick of it.”

Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, told the Daily Echo that the decision over Mr Hancock’s resignation was “a personal matter” and refused to comment further.

Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West and Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, both declined to comment.

The Daily Echo has left messages for Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, Mid-Dorset and North Poole MP Michael Tomlinson, Poole MP Sir Robert Syms and New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne. 

The Prime Minister has so far resisted calls to sack Mr Hancock, who said he was “very sorry” for letting people down after The Sun first reported he was having an extramarital affair.

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Johnson had accepted Mr Hancock’s apology and “considers the matter closed”.

However, a snap poll by Savanta ComRes, released hours after photographs of the pair kissing in Mr Hancock’s ministerial office surfaced, found 58 per cent of UK adults feel he should resign, compared to 25 per cent who say he should not.