Matt Hancock was filmed dancing into the early hours at an Oxford nightclub over the weekend as he continues to enjoy time away from the stresses of Boris Johnson’s government.
The Tory MP, forced to quit in June last year after breaking social distancing guidelines by kissing a colleague, was seen dancing with old university friends at the Atik nightclub in the city where he studied.
The former health secretary is see beaming and waving his arms in the short clip, posted with the message ‘Meet Matt Hancock’ and a pair of emojis.
Mr Hancock danced to songs including I Want You Back by the Jackson Five and stayed at the nightclub – which describes itself as a “superclub” with five “incredible” rooms, exclusive VIPs, star DJs and has a capacity of 1,200 – until 2am on Sunday morning.
“Matt was clearly having a great time in there, reliving his old uni days,” a source told the The Sun.
The 43-year-old made national and international headlines after a previous video emerged showing him in a passionate embrace with Gina Coladangelo, who at the time was non-executive director at the Department of Health.
The clip sparked outrage and exposed the pair’s secret affair and Mr Hancock, married with three children, later left his wife of 15 years.
Ms Coladangelo parted ways with her husband and the former colleagues are now said to be in a committed relationship.
They first met through their involvement with student radio at Oxford, where Mr Hancock studied politics, philosophy and economics before going on to work at the Bank of England as an economist and later into politics.
Matt Hancock had to resign as health secretary after an affair with adviser Gina Coladangelo amid coronavirus restrictions
During his time in the cabinet Mr Hancock was one of the prime minister’s most loyal allies, often taking to the airwaves to defend his own and his boss’s handling of the pandemic.
On the backbenches, he has continued to support Mr Johnson and there have been reports about a potential comeback – the latest of which suggested he could replace the recently departed Oliver Dowden as Tory Party chair.
Mr Johnson has said that he is not in a rush to replace Mr Dowden, who quit in the aftermath of two damaging by-election defeats last week.
The Independent has contacted Mr Hancock for comment.
