Voters in West Suffolk fear Matt Hancock has lost support

Voters have agreed unanimously that Mr Hancock, MP for West Suffolk, made the decision to step down as health secretary after photos of him breaching social distancing guidance by kissing aide Gina Coladangelo.

Mr Hancock wrote to prime minister Boris Johnson on Saturday after The Sun published images of the passionate encounter on Friday.

The 42-year-old said he accepted that he had broken Covid rules and said he had "let people down".

Jason Hussain, of the Bell Hotel in Mildenhall, said: "There's a lot of people who are happy with the decision. If the Queen has to follow the rules at Prince Philip's funeral, he has to too."

He said he thought voters may think twice if Mr Hancock stands at the next General Election.

"I think this will definitely put people off him. You have to lead by example."

File photo dated 9/4/2020 of Matt Hancock who has resigned as Health Secretary after video footage emerged of him kissing an aide in his ministerial office in a breach of coronavirus restrictions. Issue date: Sunday June 27, 2021. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The Sunday Times reported that West Suffolk Conservatives are so "enraged" by Mr Hancock's conduct that he might be deselected.

However, deputy chair of West Suffolk Conservatives Andy Drummond said he had "no idea" where that came from and refused to comment further on the matter.

West Suffolk Conservatives have been approached for comment but have not yet released an official statement.

However, opinion was split among constituents as to whether he should retain his West Suffolk seat, which he has held since 2010 when he won with 45% of the vote.

At the last election he won 65% of the votes with 33,842 putting a cross next to his name. His closest rival, Labour's Claire Unwin, secured just over 10,000 votes.

Sajid Javid has been appointed as the new health secretary (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Matt-Hancock-resigns-as-health-secretary

John Byers, from the Cock Inn in Little Thurlow, said: "He should have stepped down. It was probably the right decision in the circumstances.

"People often vote for the party, so you may hate someone's guts but you'll still vote for them. This probably won't put people off but, from what I've heard, he's not well-liked here."

Brian Walford, of the Royal Exchange in Haverhill, added: "I think stepping down is the right decision. With the whole social distancing thing, I can see why he's gone.

"I think the knives have been out for him ever since Dominic Cummings came out against him."

And Ron Calper, who runs the Brewers Tap in Lakenheath, said: "I was a but surprised that he's resigned over this. He's done a lot of things over the last two years, but he's carried on.

"I don't think he'll get a lot of votes in the future."