Cheating Tory husband re-selected as candidate

A Tory MP who cheated on his wife while she fought cancer was readopted today as his local party's prospective Parliamentary candidate.

James Gray, 52, was reselected in a postal ballot to decide whether he should be put forward to stand for his North Wiltshire constituency at the next general election.

This came after the North Wiltshire Conservative Association's executive voted in November to deselect him following revelations that he cheated on Sarah, his wife of 29 years, while she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Mr Gray told a press conference in Chippenham: "I am naturally delighted that the membership of the North Wiltshire Conservative Association has done me the honour of reselecting me to fight at the next general election under the Conservative banner.

"I quite respect the views of those, including some of those who have voted against me on the executive council, who believe that an MP's divorce makes it hard to offer him an automatic re-adoption.

"But I am delighted, and humbled, that overall, the membership of the Association voting in the secret ballot has concluded that my record as their MP - in the constituency and in Parliament - outweighs any disapproval they may feel with regard to my private life."