A security-camera still, taken on 6 May 2021 and published seven weeks later, made a little-known communications chief a front-page fixture. Gina Coladangelo had been a PR and marketing professional for almost 20 years, and was a government department board member. The health secretary who had appointed her to that position was out of a job within a day of its publication.
Years later, the Gina Coladangelo search is holding up. Some are still interested in the controversy, some in her affair with Matt Hancock, some want to know what she actually did for a living. Here’s what the evidence shows – and what it doesn’t.
A career built in communications, not politics
Coladangelo and Hancock met at Oxford, where they were colleagues on the student radio station. Her way into Westminster was via the PR industry. Gina Coladangelo became a director of the lobbying company Luther Pendragon, and still held a shareholding in 2021.
Her bio on the official Government website reads: Marketing and Communications Director, Oliver Bonas. Our British lifestyle retailer with over 80 stores across the UK and Ireland. Over 20 years’ experience in communications and marketing within the retail, health and environmental sectors. Board of Governors of two London-based Beyond Autism schools and a former trustee of the charity Willow.
It was a shared journey both personally and professionally. The founder of the retailer, Oliver Tress, was the writer’s husband from 2009, with whom she has three children.
How she ended up at the Department of Health
This was the part of her story that attracted the most attention. She was initially paid no salary when she signed up as a paid adviser on a six-month contract back in 2020, before eventually becoming a non-executive director in a role that paid her £15,000 a year for up to 20 days’ work. Hancock, who was health secretary, chaired the board she was on.
That got the questions rolling before that picture even did. Labour put a series of questions to the department about the secret appointment, and another cabinet colleague, Grant Shapps, said it would have been a thorough process. The department dismissed allegations of cronyism, and a Hancock spokesperson said Gina Coladangelo first signed up as a volunteer.
The clip that ended a cabinet career
On 25 June 2021, a national newspaper revealed CCTV footage from 6 May of Hancock embracing Coladangelo when he was in direct violation of his own Covid guidelines. Both individuals were married to someone else. Hancock issued an apology on the same day and said he ‘let people down’, and initially Number 10 appeared to accept that apology, but under increasing pressure from his own party, the former health secretary resigned a day later, and Coladangelo was reported to be quitting her role.
No police probe followed. The Metropolitan Police said they would not revisit alleged breaches of the Covid rules. The impact on her personal life was even greater. Gina Coladangelo resigned from the Department of Health and her marriage to Oliver Tress ended.
Gina Coladangelo and Matt Hancock since 2021
Initially, the pair remained relatively quiet. Hancock addressed the issue for the first time in early 2022 on the Diary of a CEO podcast when he said he violated the rules because he had fallen in love and that he and Coladangelo love each other “deeply”. Next up was the reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! In late 2022. While the show was in the midst of controversy, Coladangelo was jetting to Australia and told a national paper it was going to be hard not to be blown away by how he’d handled himself.
The same article noted that Ofcom had received 1,968 complaints about the series, with roughly 1,100 concerning Hancock’s participation. A year later, she popped up on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, in which Hancock was given a video call with her during the jungle phase, and in which she questioned him on whether it was “hella tough”.
Apart from those instances, she has remained quite under the radar. Gina Coladangelo has been relatively silent when it comes to the relationship. The intrigue reignited when Hancock testified at the Covid Inquiry, prompting questions about the nature of the couple’s relationship. Hancock resigned from the Commons in May 2024, and his sources cite Coladangelo as his domestic partner from 2021 onwards.
What is confirmed, and what isn’t
It helps to separate the solid from the shaky, because a lot of low-quality biography sites have filled the gaps with guesswork.
Well supported: her Oxford connection to Hancock, her career at Luther Pendragon and Oliver Bonas, her adviser and non-executive roles at the Department of Health, the May 2021 footage, the resignations, and the end of her marriage to Oliver Tress.
Not confirmed: I found no reliable report that she and Hancock have married, so “partner” is the accurate word. Net worth figures circulate widely online, but none I came across were properly sourced, so they are left out here. Her current job is also unclear. Her official government profile lists the Oliver Bonas role, but that page reflects her time in government, and I couldn’t find recent, trustworthy confirmation of what she does now.
Some websites also state details about her extended family and exact college that conflict with one another. Without solid sourcing, those are best treated as unverified.
Why people still search for her
Some of it is just plain curiosity about an odd scandal. First, it was a story about a rule that was broken, and then a story about appointments, openness, and how a department of state chooses its consultants. Coladangelo was the one person in the middle of that who refused to speak publicly. The second is that her life since 2013 has remained loosely linked to Hancock’s resurgent fame, from television celebrity to Covid Inquiry witness. Whenever he pops up again, they google her.
There is a short version that is the best brief overview of Gina Coladangelo. She’s a communications specialist who wasn’t involved with politics much before a 2020 appointment, and whose name is forever attached to June 2021. Everything else should be sourced.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
Who is Gina Coladangelo?
Gina Coladangelo is a British communications executive and was a former non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care. She shot to fame in 2021 after her affair with Matt Hancock was made public.
What has she been doing at the Department of Health?
According to her disclosure form, she was initially an unpaid adviser in 2020 before becoming a non-executive director, paid up to £15,000 a year for up to 20 days’ work.
Are Gina Coladangelo and Matt Hancock still together?
The Sources show her as his domestic partner from 2021 – present. I could not find proof of a marriage, so it is best to see the latest news to see if that has changed.
Did she marry Oliver Tress?
Yes. They tied the knot in 2009 and have three kids with each other. The marriage was over when the secret affair was revealed in 2021.
What does she do for work?
Her official government webpage describes her as “Marketing and Communications Director at Oliver Bonas, over 20 years”. This official position has not been verified in recent articles.
