'Cameron babe' chooses career over husband

13 April 2012

For 23 years they appeared to have the perfect marriage.

While her husband stood behind her raising their family, Nadine Dorries enjoyed what was seen as a rags to riches rise from a Liverpool council house to a million-pound medieval home.

First she achieved success as a businesswoman, then in politics, becoming a Tory MP and, as a key adviser to her party leader, a 'Cameron babe'.

But when the 49-year-old MP was presented with the stark choice between her marriage and the promise of a glittering political future, she shocked her husband by choosing her job.

The glamorous blonde has announced that she has split from her husband, who has multiple sclerosis, after he gave her an ultimatum - it's me or your political career.

The mother of three told colleagues that they are to divorce, saying she and her 53-year-old husband Paul are at 'entirely different stages in our life'.

Now the couple, who have daughters, aged 21, 19 and 15, are selling their medieval home in the small Cotswolds town of Chipping Campden after parting over Christmas.

The split has astonished colleagues in Westminster, where the feisty backbencher is seen as a rising star who has the ear of Mr Cameron and is widely tipped to land a ministerial role.

But neighbours told how the couple had been increasingly spending time apart after her career took off.

One said: 'It does not surprise me that they are splitting. I feel sorry for Paul. He is always in her shadow.

'Since her career took off she has hardly spent any time here with him. She is a high-flier now and has left him behind.'

Friends said Mr Dorries, a former mining engineer, now plans to rent a flat in neighbouring Stratford-upon-Avon, although he is understood to want to live in South Africa.

One friend, who did not want to be named, said: 'Paul did not like the politics, he didn't like David Cameron.

'He wanted to go to South Africa and start a new life there. He gave her an ultimatum but her career is too important to her to give up.

'She is incredibly ambitious and wants to be part of David Cameron's government.'

The couple met in Liverpool when she was 17 and later married in Africa, where she was running a community school.

The former nurse, who made her fortune developing a healthcare business which she sold to BUPA, has worked on a variety of business ventures, including a childcare firm.

Mr Dorries threw himself into renovation work when the family moved to Woolstaplers Hall last year, a Grade I listed building dating from 1340, thought to be one of the oldest inhabited domestic properties in England.

The stunning Cotswold-stone hall was the fourth house on Chipping Campden High Street to be bought by the couple, who have run a shop and then a bed-and-breakfast from neighbouring properties.

But after Mrs Dorries was elected as MP for Mid-Bedfordshire in May 2005, she increasingly spent time away in her constituency and at Westminster, where she has responsibilities on a public service improvement commission and is the vice-chairman of an all-party parliamentary group for further education.

Now the couple are selling their four-bedroom home for £940,000 and their second property, a three-bedroomed Victorian house, for £475,000, having already sold the other houses.

Mrs Dorries made the announcement about her marriage split on her website after telling her local Conservative Association.

She said: 'Myself and Paul are at entirely different stages in our life and have agreed to an amicable divorce.

'We intend to have a joint family holiday during the summer. Paul is still very supportive of my work and we remain very good friends.'

She declined to comment - although she has stressed that there are no third parties involved.

Mr Dorries said: 'We have been married for 23 years and knew each other for ten years before that, so that is 33 years.

'This means the split is perfectly amicable - we are just going our separate ways. 'We have three kids together and they are the most important thing.'

When asked whether he would move to South Africa, he said: 'We will see what the future holds.'

Mr Cameron, who has championed marriage, refused to comment, saying Mrs Dorries's situation was a private matter.

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