The United Kingdom will investigate the leaked footage of former health secretary Matt Hancock, in which he was seen kissing his close aide, Gina Coladangelo, reported PTI. After receiving backlash for breaking his own government’s COVID protocols, Hancock resigned on Saturday. He was succeeded by fellow Tory MP Sajid Javid.

“The Department of Health will be investigating quite rightly to understand how this was able to happen,” UK Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the BBC.

“We have got to be concerned about the fact that someone was able to secure a recording from inside a government building… We have to understand how that happened and how we deal with that,” he said. 

‘The Sun’ newspaper, which had published images of the illicit kiss that broke the COVID-19 lockdown rules in place at the time in early May, said the images came from “a concerned Whitehall whistleblower”.

Hancock had issued an apology for breaking the social distancing rule with someone outside his household bubble on Friday. PM Boris Johnson backed him to continue in his role. However, after receiving criticism from the opposition, as well as his own party, it got difficult for him to continue as the health secretary. He resigned on Saturday.

His aide Coladangelo, also resigned from her DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care) role of non-executive director.

Meanwhile, Hancock’s successor, Javid, has previously held senior posts of Home Secretary and Chancellor in the UK Cabinet. He back on the frontline after he had left the government in February, this year.