Shadow Environment Minister Greg Barker faces a tough fight to save his political career. He could be deselected for failing to tell his local association about his gay affair after leaving his wife and 
children.
What would their reaction have been if he had confessed? Would his future still be doomed? I suspect Greg lacked the courage, fearing their response. It was, after all, a deeply personal decision, and an extremely difficult and devastating one all round. Perhaps his wife and family even asked him to keep it a secret.
His association should certainly have had warning bells ringing, families do not break up without good cause, it usually involves a third party, or unmentionable cruelty.
And Greg was naive to imagine that his gay love life could be kept a secret for ever. Maybe he thought that his personal life was his own business, but his local association should have been put in the picture. Would he have owned up had the affair involved another woman instead of interior designer William Banks-Blaney? Would that have made any difference to the association?
Why should one very committed person, an excellent Shadow Minister, be penalised so heavily for making one mistake? What about his good deeds as their MP, the fact that his loyal and selfless wife Celeste has been incredibly generous by publicly urging the local association not to sack him?
Greg is no Bill Clinton, and look how he is still admired worldwide. Had Greg lied to his association on many other occasions, if he had been a poor MP, then they would have had good cause to cast a wider net. I hope his association remembers all his good points too before making its final decision and ask themselves how truthful their actions are.
I certainly don’t condone adultery, but life is never simple and we can’t expect our MPs to be whiter than white, we are all flawed as human beings.
The Conservative Party is moving forward and embracing gay issues. Deselecting Greg is going to look like a judgement on him being gay. The saying about casting the first stone springs to mind…
Yes and no Ellee. Politicians are supposed to represent us , not manage us , and part of that is being like us . Would he have been elected if he had told the truth . Would he have been selected ? What on earth does Nic Boles have to say to struggling married couples with children in London ?
There are , as you might imagine about a million things about me that would disqualify mw from the Z list . Why not lie about the whole thing .
His wife knew by the way and was more embarrased about the deal she did than the homosexuality . What a sad peversion of human feeling . Greg , is no worse than many more in our sickening disfunctional political process . Big subject actually of which this is a small symptom only .
Purging with flame is the the only reasonable policy
I’m a “live and let live” person. Did he actually lie to anyone? Was there deceit involved? I can’t see that witholding information is reprehensible until he was asked a specific question and then told a porky.
There’s no getting away from this: the question the constituency association must ask is whether he retains credibility as a politician or whether there will just be sniggering whenever he goes anywhere near a constituency function and that he has therefore become a laughing stock.
I suspect they probably will chuck him out, though later rather than sooner. I have no idea if his wife went along with it, as a previous commenter suggests, but if she did and if, as is implied, they pulled the wool over the eyes of the constituency hustings to get him adopted, then he will certainly be deselected.
Incidentally, in case I sound like an unreconstructed hetro, I should say that I don’t give a damn if he is gay or straight – he just darn well well ought to have been open about it rather than turn up with a pretty woman on his arm.
Jim, I think the fact that the information was deliberately witheld is why Greg Barker has been accused by his association of being “disingenious”.
Icedink, Maybe it takes time to be “open” about these issues at the very beginning. I haven’t heard f any incidents where he has been made a laughing stock, I’m sure he still goes out and about in his constituency.
There’s so much hypocrisy around these issues. As ever, his “sin” seems to be that of being found out. If Prescott can keep his seat, I don’t see why Greg can’t!
“Maybe it takes time to be “openâ€? about these issues at the very beginning”
For many gay(bi) people, coming out isn’t certainly a very easy thing. I feel that sometimes straight people don’t fully understand how it can be difficult.
And I suppose that being married (with children) makes it even more difficult.
To be fair, I’m not even sure if the association has any right to know if he left his wife for another woman or man. Why is it their bunisess? He can carry on with his political job even if he’s divorcing his wife for someone else.
Will the members of the B&B executive update the executive itself about their sex life too?