“I am writing to resign as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. We have worked so hard as a country to fight the pandemic. The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis. I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance and apologize to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need (to) be with my children at this time,” said Matt Hancock in the letter of his resignation.

“We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance,” he added.

On Friday, it was alleged that Hancock breached COVID social distancing rules with Gina Coladangelo, an adviser in the Department of Health and Social Care, after CCTV images of him kissing her in his Whitehall office on 6 May were published in The Sun newspaper.

The government's guidelines allowed intimate contact with people from different households only from 17 May.

Meanwhile, former chancellor Sajid Javid has been confirmed as the new health secretary, Downing Street said.