Early Years and Background
Matthew John David Hancock, more commonly known as Matt Hancock, is a prominent British politician who held high-profile roles including Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Before delving into his domestic life, it’s worth noting that his ex-wife, Martha Hoyer Millar (often referred to simply as Martha Hancock after marriage), comes from a distinguished background.
She is the granddaughter of Frederick Millar, 1st Baron Inchyra, a British diplomat who served as Ambassador to West Germany in the mid-1950s.
Martha met Matt during their time at University of Oxford. They married in 2006, launching a decade plus of married life that was largely private compared with Matt’s public career.
Married Life and Family
The union between Matt Hancock and Martha Hoyer Millar spanned around fifteen years. They had three children together one daughter and two sons creating a home life somewhat shielded from the intense public scrutiny Matt faced in his ministerial roles.
Martha pursued a career as an osteopath. Her professional life remained largely outside the glare of politics and tabloids. According to coverage, the couple lived in Matt’s constituency of West Suffolk and also maintained a residence in London.
Within the marriage, Matt Hancock famously did not permit social media access for their children, recognising the pressure of public life and the risks of exposure for a minister’s family.
The Affair and the Fallout
In June 2021, Matt Hancock’s career and marriage hit a turning point when he publicly acknowledged an affair with his aide, Gina Coladangelo. The disclosure came after images emerged of them breaching COVID-19 social distancing guidelines in his office. In his statement, Hancock described telling Martha about the affair as the “worst conversation” he ever had.
That event precipitated his resignation from the Cabinet and the effective end of his marriage. Martha’s response was to withdraw from the limelight — she opted for privacy rather than public recrimination. Many observers noted that while Matt’s political standing deteriorated rapidly, Martha chose a more measured route: moving on quietly and preserving dignity away from media spotlight.
Who Is Martha Now?
Since the separation, Martha has stepped back from public commentary. Her identity as Matt Hancock’s former wife remains one aspect of her biography, but she is primarily seen as a private individual: a mother, a professional osteopath, and a person with aristocratic lineage.
She appears to have prioritised normalcy for her children, familial stability and professional continuity. In doing so, she arguably illustrated a strength of character: rather than seeking headlines she maintained a low-profile existence.
It’s worth emphasising that while the affair and its consequences dominated headlines for Matt Hancock, Martha’s decision to keep a low profile arguably resonated with many observers as an example of choosing stability over spectacle.
Reflections on Public & Private Life
The story of Matt Hancock and Martha Hoyer Millar highlights the tension between public roles and private commitments. For Matt, the demands of frontline politics, the spotlight of ministerial duties during the COVID-19 pandemic, and intense scrutiny all pressed on his personal world. He was, after all, at the heart of a national crisis.
For Martha, the decision to partner with a high-profile politician meant living partly in the shadows of media interest. Then when the marriage ended publicly, the unequal exposure of each party’s actions became stark: Matt’s downfall was front-page news; Martha’s reaction was quiet, controlled.
One might reflect that the narrative of “the wife” in political life often gets flattened into a supporting role. But Martha’s story of lineage, professional identity, motherhood and personal dignity shows a more complex and independent dimension.
The After-Effects and Personal Legacies
For Matt Hancock, the affair and the resulting resignation are major chapters in his biography. For Martha, the period of marriage, the family they built, and the subsequent separation form a different kind of legacy. Though their paths diverged, the shared years and the children remain common ground.
In the broader view, their story raises questions about how public figures manage private lives, and how spouses of those figures choose to respond when personal crises intersect with public scandal.
Martha’s approach of retreating from the media and preserving her personal life offers one model of response.
Today, while Matt remains in the public eye in various capacities, Martha continues her life more quietly. The contrast between two lives once united in marriage but now separate has captured public interest not just for the dramatic scandal but for what it reveals about relationships, power, privacy and resilience.
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Conclusion
The story of Matt Hancock’s wife is as much about her as it is about him: a woman with her own lineage, career and viewpoint, caught up in the circumstances of a high-stakes political life. Her choice to step back, concentrate on her children and her profession, and maintain dignity under pressure, speaks to a broader narrative of what it means to be a partner to a public figure and what happens when that figure’s spotlight veers into crisis.
If you like, I can check for recent updates about Martha Hoyer Millar or any public appearances she’s made since the split.