Matt Hancock is under renewed pressure to quit after two Tory MPs broke ranks and demanded his resignation.
Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk, is thought to be the first Conservative to publicly call for the Health Secretary to stand down.
He told his local newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press how he will ‘not in any shape condone this behaviour’ after Hancock was snapped kissing a close aide, breaching coronavirus restrictions.
‘In my view people in high public office and great positions of responsibility should act with the appropriate morals and ethics that come with that role’, he said.
‘Matt Hancock, on a number of measures, has fallen short of that.
‘As an MP who is a devoted family man, married for 12 years with a wonderful wife and children, standards and integrity matter to me.’
And Baker, elected in 2019, said he has expressed his views ‘in the strongest possible terms’ to the Government.
Hancock has found himself in hot water after a video emerged on Thursday night of him in a passionate clinch with Gina Coladangelo.
Now former Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey, is said to have backed calls for Mr Hancock to leave his post.
According to Mail Online, the MP for Tatton said: ‘If it had been me, I would have resigned myself.’
And she believes it would be ‘viewed more admirably’ if he quits rather than it ‘being pushed upon him.’
Stills from the clip had been released hours earlier – prompting Labour to declare Hancock’s position as ‘hopelessly untenable’.
Lawyers said the father-of-three, married to wife Martha for 15 years, may have broken the law regarding coronavirus restrictions – amid concerns he may have also breached the ministerial code.
The Health Secretary has only admitted to breaching social distancing guidance, and has apologised, although he is yet to offer his resignation.
Hancock openly criticised Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Government’s Sage advisory committee, for breaking lockdown rules to meet a lover in May 2020.
It comes as another Tory MP, William Wragg, appeared to take a swipe at Mr Hancock this afternoon although stopped short of publicly demanding his resignation.
Wragg tweeted on Saturday afternoon: ‘Re Mr Hancock, a thought: Covid regulations have created a dystopian world of denunciation, finger-wagging & hypocrisy.
‘Let us be freed from this tyranny of diktat and arbitrary rule. As we shall inevitably see with this sad example, the revolution always consumes its own.’
And the Health Secretary was dealt a further blow today after an unnamed friend who was due to defend him on radio failed to show up.
Downing Street has so far resisted calls for Hancock to go, stressing that Boris Johnson ‘considers the matter closed.’
But other Tory MPs have urged the Prime Minister to ‘pull the plug’ according to the Daily Telegraph – as a snap poll revealed more than half of adults in Britain believe Mr Hancock should quit.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice group, which represents those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, has also demanded the Health Secretary hands in his notice.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the group said it had broken its ‘position of neutrality on ministerial conduct’ to urge Mr Johnson to relieve Mr Hancock of his job.
He is also said to have fallen out of favour with some fellow Conservatives who believe he has obstructed the relaxation of Covid measures.
Mr Hancock has requested privacy for his family to deal with the ‘personal matter’.
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