Hancock is 'guilty of gross hypocrisy' and 'should resign,' says Former Home Office Minister, David Mellor

Former Home Office Minister, David Mellor said Hancock should resign, saying "it's what I should of done" when in government.

"When you get caught up in something like that, you just become a victim pulled around by a press that enjoys humiliating politicians," he said on The Great British Breakfast.

"When I look back over the ridiculous minor thing that I got myself mixed up in — in those days you didn't need to prove there was any reason to get rid of someone other than the fact that they had sex outside their marriage," he reflected, adding "I like a fool stayed on."

Pressure is mounting on Matt Hancock to resign – and on Boris Johnson to call in the Government’s ethics adviser – after the Health Secretary was caught kissing a close aide in breach of coronavirus restrictions.

A video of Mr Hancock in an embrace with Gina Coladangelo was published on Friday night, after stills from the CCTV clip earlier in the day prompted Labour to deem his position “hopelessly untenable”.

Mellor told GB News presenters Kirsty Gallacher and "If Hancock wanted advice from me, which I’m sure he doesn’t, he should resign," he said. "He's seen to have been guilty of gross hypocrisy," said

Lawyers described how Mr Hancock may have broken the law regarding coronavirus restrictions, although he admitted only to breaching guidance.

There were also questions about Mrs Coladangelo’s appointment to her role in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the first place.

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.

But the Daily Telegraph reported that Tory MPs were telling the Prime Minister to “pull the plug”, with public reaction over coming days key to his fate.

Mellor said that keeping on Hancock poses a threat to Boris Johnson's position as Prime Minister, arguing that "the danger for Boris is that his own seediness will become more of an issue because of Hancock."

He went on to say that "Boris has got away with an awful lot in his life, and the public quite like him and so they forgive him. But there comes a point when the forgiveness comes to an end."