MATT Hancock has resigned as health secretary – hours after a Dorset MP called for him to quit and said he was “finished”.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, Mr Hancock said the government “owe it to people who have sacrified so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down”.

Mr Hancock had been under pressure ever since pictures emerged of him kissing government aide Gina Coladangelo.

In his letter to the prime minister, he wrote: “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 apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need (to) be with my children at this time.”

Earlier today, Christchurch’s Sir Christopher Chope became only the second Conservative MP to call for the health secretary to quit.

The annual general meeting of Christchurch’s Conservative Association oted unanimously for a call for Mr Hancock to quit.

Sir Christopher told the Daily Echo: “I feel that his position is completely untenable and that he should resign.

“I think that he should resign rather than be sacked because this should actually be an issue for him and his conscience.

“One of the benefits of having been around for a long time is that I’ve seen this sort of thing before and the strength of feeling is such, within the party and outside, that this will not simply go away.

“The sooner he resigns the better so we can have a new secretary for health who commands public respect.”

“Hancock is finished.

“The sooner he goes the sooner he can be rehabilitated."