Minister accused of affair with single mother

IANS/London

Ireland’s Green Party members walk out of the government building after announcing that they can no longer continue in government in Dublin yesterday

A minister was caught in a sex scandal over allegations that he cheated on his wife and had an extramarital affair with a single mother for seven years.
Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the Lords, reportedly seduced Birgit Cunningham, a former friend of Liz Hurley and ex-girlfriend of Kevin Costner, at her flat and at his Westminster home, Daily Mail reported yesterday.
Their last tryst is said to have taken place on January 14, when Strathclyde took time off from his Cabinet duties to visit Roedean-educated Cunningham, 48, at her London home.
Strathclyde, 50, one of most trusted confidants of Prime Minister David Cameron, allegedly gave Cunningham £40 when he visited her.
The half-Belgian hereditary peer, born as Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, has been happily married to his wife Jane for nearly 20 years.
Cunningham was a member of the so-called Brit Pack of celebrities and socialites who took Hollywood by storm in the 1980s. But while some, such as Hurley, became stars, Cunningham had no such success.
She has a son by a partner, Sir Harry Nuttall, but now describes herself as a single mother.
According to a newspaper report, Lord Strathclyde seduced Cunningham after she contacted him pleading for help in her battle with the Child Support Agency, the Mail said.
At their most recent meeting on January 14, he is said to have turned up at her flat with a bottle of wine, telling her to put it in the fridge.
The peer reportedly thrust 40 pounds into her handbag and tucked into Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference smoked salmon and drank chilled Sancerre 2008 white wine, while relaxing on her couch and removing his tie.