Huhne leaves wife for mistress

London: The coalition was on Saturday night rocked by its second cabinet sleaze scandal in three weeks as Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said he was leaving his wife for his mistress.

Multi-millionaire Huhne ended his 26-year marriage after confirming he had been having a long-term affair with media adviser Carina Trimingham, a former press officer for the BBC's Top Of The Pops.

His wife, senior civil servant Vicky Pryce, 57, knew nothing of "the affair until he had to come clean" in the face of media enquiries.

Huhne is understood to have been conducting the affair with divorcee Trimingham, campaigns director of the Electoral Reform Society, at his constituency home in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for more than a year.

The affair follows the expenses scandal that forced Lib Dem Treasury Chief Secretary David Laws to resign last month. He quit after it was revealed he had paid £40,000 (Dh217,472) of his Commons second home allowance to his male partner.

In a brief statement, 55-year-old Huhne said on Saturday night: "I am in a serious relationship with Carina Trimingham and I am separating from my wife".

Coalition sources said there was no question of him being asked to resign as Energy and Climate Change Secretary.

Senior Lib Dems had known about the affair for some time.

Friends of Trimingham said she had hoped to get a job as a "spin doctor" with the coalition, but believe she was blocked by party leaders who feared the affair could be exposed and that any revelation would cause even more embarrassment to Nick Clegg if she worked in the Government.

The scandal has echoes of former Labour Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's affair with his secretary Gaynor Regan, which was exposed in 1997, months after Tony Blair came to power.

Labour officials forced Cook to choose immediately between wife Margaret and Regan to limit the public relations damage to the Government.

Coalition sources insisted no such ultimatum was made to Huhne. However, like Cook, he chose his mistress.

On Friday, Trimingham was seen taking the train to Huhne's detached constituency home, arriving around 8pm. It was Trimingham's 44th birthday. The pair spent the evening alone inside. Pryce remained in Clapham.

It is believed their relationship started in May 2009, two years after they met during the Lib Dem leadership battle, when Trimingham worked on Huhne's campaign team.

He was narrowly beaten by Clegg.

Scandal: Love and marriage

Chris Huhne and his Greek-born wife Vicky Pryce have three children together and two daughters from her previous marriage.

She is chief economics adviser to Huhne's Lib Dem friend and colleague, Vince Cable, the Business Secretary and also joint head of the Government Economic Service, overseeing 1,500 public sector economists.

They married in 1984 shortly after she divorced her first husband.

Carina Trimingham is a former political journalist for Sky News and the BBC. She handled Huhne's constituency press relations during the General Election, has been a publicist for Carling lager and The Who rock band and was a media aide to former Metropolitan Police Commander Brian Paddick, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in the 2008 London mayoral elections.