Skip to content
openDemocracy
Subscribe

At least 16 Tory allies given paid ‘independent’ roles in government

Exclusive: Non-executive directors like Gina Coladangelo are meant to ‘challenge’ ministers like Matt Hancock, but new investigations finds many have Conservative ties

By Peter Geoghegan and Martin Williams
At least 16 Tory allies given paid ‘independent’ roles in government
Photos have emerged of Matt Hancock embracing Gina Coladangelo, whom he hired as non-executive director at the Health Department | PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Published:
Share

At least 16 individuals with close ties to the Conservative Party, including Tory donors, peers and former MPs, have been given lucrative oversight jobs in key Whitehall departments, openDemocracy has found.

It comes after Matt Hancock was accused of a “blatant abuse of power and a clear conflict of interest” when photos emerged of the health secretary embracing Gina Coladangelo, whom he last year appointed as a non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Coladangelo, who has a background in public relations, first met Hancock at a student radio station when they were at Oxford University in the 1990s. The pair reportedly remained close friends, and she was given a non-executive directorship at DHSC last September, which pays £15,000 for 15 days’ work a year.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. If you have any queries about republishing please contact us. Please check individual images for licensing details.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0