How long can Boris Johnson hang on to his health secretary?

The prime minister has made a habit of keeping under-fire ministers in post, writes Sean O’Grady. But will the latest revelations about Matt Hancock, who has survived a longer stint in frontline politics than many of his colleagues, be a step too far?

Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson on the campaign trail in November 2019 (Getty)

It is certainly puzzling that the prime minister has chosen not to sack his health secretary, given that Matt Hancock has confessed to breaking (his own) Covid rules, and possibly the law, as well as raising all manner of questions about conflicts of interest and breaches of the ministerial code. The affair also, you’d imagine, erodes the government’s authority and public confidence in it. As with the Dominic Cummings/Barnard Castle scandal last year, such blatant hypocrisy makes people wonder why they should still obey onerous rules.

But there is a pattern here, strongly suggestive of the Johnson style of government – to tough it out and never give the opposition a scalp if you can possibly avoid it. This is, broadly, what Johnson did with Robert Jenrick (murky planning row), Gavin Williamson (exams fiasco), Priti Patel (bullying) and Cummings (Barnard Castle – though not later on). Eventually the tumult dies down, the media caravan moves on, and often as not the problem can be kicked into the long grass with the promise of some inquiry or other. Indeed, this is how Johnson managed to avoid having to sack himself over the Downing Street refurb and a few other little local difficulties.