“Steamy clinch” was how The Sun described the kiss between health secretary Matt Hancock and aide Gina Coladangelo, alongside CCTV picture of the pair embracing.
It remains to be seen how the scandal will affect the career of the already embattled minister, but where does it rank in the long and salacious history of political sex scandals in the UK?
We look back at some of the most notable ‘marmalade droppers’ of all time.
5. Steven Norris and his mistresses
The larger than life Tory transport minister was said to be proud of the rumours around his multiple mistresses in the early 1990s. But when asked if that was the case, he replied, “Not proud of it, no. That's not me at all...” He was said to have kept his job in John Major’s government because, unlike others, he had never preached on lifestyle choices. Photo: Getty
6. Edwina Currie and John Major
It didn’t emerge until 2013, but former Tory MP Edwina Currie (left) had a four-year affair with ex-PM John Major when they were both serving as ministers under Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s. She said she ended the affair in 1988 because "we could not continue without risking discovery". It turns out her 1994 novel A Parliamentary Affair perhaps wasn’t entirely fictional. Photo: Getty Images