Brandjack News

By Quentin Langley

Like William Hague, Liam Fox was single when he entered the House of Commons, and only married some years later. In the case of Fox he married at 44*, after being publicly seen in the company of some very glamorous women, including the singer-songwriter and actress, Natalie Imbruglia. The marriage was supposed to put to rest rumours that he was secretly gay and had used Imbruglia as cover. As William Hague was last year, Fox is now in trouble over allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a much younger man. In Fox's case the allegation is of business improprieties, and at the time of writing the full story is unknown. None of this stopped Labour Defence spokesperson, Kevan Jones, from accusing Fox of "living in denial". Hague had to put up with much less subtle commentary from Guido Fawkes.

But such innuendo is only relevant because they are part of a generation in which some gay people have lived in denial. In the Liberal Democrat Party – which one might expect to be more open to gay people than either Labour or the Conservatives – David Laws chose to keep his private life private, and Simon Hughes actively denied being gay while contesting the party leadership. Hypocritically, Hughes added that he didn't think it would matter if he was.

It is difficult to imagine that aspiring politicians presently in their 20s would choose to hide being gay. If so then straight politicians will probably not have to put up with the innuendo. The whole concept of being in the closet is likely to seem very dated, very soon.

*Full disclosure, this blogger married at 41.