Hancock aide Gina Coladangelo ‘to step down as health department adviser’

The pair have been friends since Oxford University

Getting their coats: Gina Coladangelo pictured with Matt Hancock last month (PA)

Gina Coladangelo, the adviser caught kissing Matt Hancock, is leaving her £15,000-a-year public position on the board of the Department for Health and Social Care following his resignation, it is reported.

The longtime friends were pictured embracing in his office at the department in breach of Covid rules.

Ms Coladangelo, a friend from Mr Hancock’s days at Oxford University, was brought into DHSC as an unpaid adviser last year before being given the £15,000-a-year role of non-executive director in the department.

Concerns were raised about Mrs Coldangelo’s appointment in November when Mr Hancock was accused of secretly handing her the adviser role.

She did not appear on the list of the department’s special advisers - also known as SpAds. These are political appointees who support ministers outside of the civil service, and who are governed by a code of conduct with a defined role.

There was no immediate confirmation of her departure from the DHSC on Saturday, which was reported by the BBC and the Sunday Times.

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