MATT Hancock has been accused of cheating on his wife with a close friend and lobbyist who is a taxpayer-funded adviser to his department.

The Health Secretary was caught on camera kissing Gina Coladangelo, according to The Sun, which published photographs of what it referred to as a “steamy clinch”.

The security camera pictures were taken on May 6 but the pair have been seen together on other occasions, according to the newspaper.

The 42-year-old has been married for 15 years to Martha, and the pair have three children. Coladangelo, 43, is also married with three children.

Coladangelo is communications director at Oliver Bonas, the fashion and lifestyle store founded by her husband Oliver Tress.

She is also a director and major shareholder at lobbying firm Luther Pendragon, which offers clients a “deep understanding of the mechanics of government”.

READ MORE: Matt Hancock deletes awkward Instagram post after kissing scandal breaks
READ MORE: Gina Coladangelo: Who is Matt Hancock's aide at the Department of Health?

Hancock secretly appointed Coladangelo to the Department of Health and Social Care as an unpaid adviser on a six-month contract in March last year.

It sparked claims of a "chumocracy" in November, when it also emerged she had accompanied Hancock to confidential meetings with civil servants and visited No 10.

The Transport Secretary has said he would not be commenting on an “entirely personal” matter when asked about the photos of Hancock and Coladangelo.

Grant Shapps told Sky News that former lobbyist Gina Coladangelo – who the Health Secretary met at university – would have gone through an “incredibly rigorous” process to get the job.

Asked about the rules around appointing friends to Government positions, Shapps said: “First of all, I think the actual issue is entirely personal for Matt Hancock.

“In terms of rules, anyone who has been appointed has to go through an incredibly rigorous process in Government, so whatever the rules are, the rules will have to be followed.

“There are no short cuts to that, as anyone who has had anything to do with the appointments system in the Civil Service knows.

“There are very strict rules in place.”

Labour said the Government needs to answer whether the Health Secretary had broken any rules or there had been “conflicts of interest” in the appointment of his closest adviser.

An Opposition party spokesman said: “Ministers, like everyone, are entitled to a private life.

“However, when taxpayers’ money is involved or jobs are being offered to close friends who are in a personal relationship with a minister, then that needs to be looked into.

“The Government needs to be open and transparent about whether there are any conflicts of interests or rules that have been broken.”

The National:

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said on Twitter: “The reason Matt Hancock should resign is that he is a terrible Health Secretary, not because of his private life.

“From the PPE scandal, the crisis in our care service and the unbelievably poor test and trace system, he has utterly failed.”

In a brief statement, Hancock said he is “very sorry” that he has let people down, but that he remains focused on his job tackling the pandemic.

“I accept that I breached the social distancing guidance in these circumstances, I have let people down and am very sorry,” he said.

“I remain focused on working to get the country out of this pandemic, and would be grateful for privacy for my family on this personal matter.”

Downing Street said the Prime Minister has accepted Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s apology for breaching social distancing guidelines and “considers the matter closed”.

“You’ve seen the Health Secretary’s statement, so I would point you to that,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister said after being asked by reporters why Hancock remained in post.

“I don’t really have anything further to add.

“The Health Secretary set out that he accepted he had breached the social distancing guidelines and he has apologised for that.

“The Prime Minister has accepted the Health Secretary’s apology and considers the matter closed.”

Asked whether Boris Johnson had “full confidence” in Hancock, the spokesman replied: “Yes.”