Scottish peer: claims of hypocrisy over 'affair'

THE Tories were at the centre of charges of hypocrisy last night after a leading Scottish peer was subject to claims that he had a seven-year affair with a single mother.

Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the House of Lords, allegedly started the affair with Birgit Cunningham, a former friend of model Liz Hurley, after she sought his help in a battle with the Child Support Agency (CSA).

The 51-year-old peer has been married for 20 years, has three daughters and is a close friend and ally of Prime Minister David Cameron. He has often spoken spoken proudly in public about his family.

Labour MP Alison McGovern said the revelations "call into question" Mr Cameron's move towards tax incentives for marriage. "It seems like hypocrisy to me," the Wirral South MP added.

The peer is believed to be worth at least 10 million and splits his time between a home in Westminster and an estate in Mauchline, Ayrshire.

Miss Cunningham was once a Hollywood socialite, who lived with Hurley and dated the film star Kevin Costner.

She returned to London in 1997, becoming a press officer for the Green Party and falling for the millionaire former racing driver and baronet Harry Nuttall.

• Profile: Lord Strathclyde

In 2000 she made headlines by smearing a chocolate eclair in the face of Nick Brown, the Labour agriculture minister, in a green protest at a National Farmers' Union conference.

Miss Cunningham says she struggled financially after her relationship with Mr Nuttall broke down and she was left struggling to raise their son in a council flat above a chip shop in Ladbroke Grove, West London.

She says she has known Lord Strathclyde for 25 years, and claims that he made advances on her after she contacted him asking for help in her battle with the CSA.

The 48-year-old described herself as a recovering alcoholic and claimed the Tory peer exploited her problem by giving her wine during meetings at her flat and his 3m Westminster home.

Miss Cunningham said he had "taken advantage" during a time when she was "vulnerable".

She said: "I'm not proud of sleeping with a married man. I feel betrayed. I'm talking about this now because I'm fed up of this government's hypocrisy and how they preach to us about family values.

"They make speeches about it yet, at the same time, a senior Cabinet minister and friend of David Cameron is sneaking away from his wife to have sex with me."

Miss Cunningham went on: "He was simply interested in sex and I am not going to let myself be used in that way any more."

A Conservative Party spokesman said Lord Strathclyde had no comment to make regarding the allegations.The story is the first public relations crisis to hit the Conservatives since Mr Cameron's communications director Andy Coulson was forced to resign over the phone hacking row at his former newspaper, the News of the World.