News
2006-01-27
British candidate
for Liberal Democrats leadership post comes out
Britain's
opposition Liberal Democrats were the focus of more
startling headlines Thursday, as the front-runner i
Britain's
opposition Liberal Democrats were the focus of more
startling headlines Thursday, as the front-runner in
the race to become party leader acknowledged he has
had gay relationships. Simon Hughes's statement
followed days after a fellow leadership contender quit over
claims that he had had an affair with a male prostitute.
The party was
plunged into crisis earlier this month when leader Charles
Kennedy resigned after acknowledging a drinking problem. Now
the party, which enjoys increased popularity due to
its opposition to the Iraq war, is struggling to shift
the public debate from personalities to policy. "I
believe that people have a right to a private life,
providing that their private life does not impinge
upon their public responsibilities," said Hughes, 54,
in a statement released to the news media via
Britain's Press Association. "I have always maintained
that someone's sexual orientation should not be a barrier to
public life in modern Britain. I strongly believe that
people should have a right to personal privacy. Today,
however, I have accepted publicly that I have had
homosexual relationships in the past, as well as
heterosexual ones."
Hughes, who is
unmarried and currently the party's president, in the past
has denied gay relations, and it was unclear what prompted
the acknowledgment, first made in an exclusive
interview with The Sun newspaper on Thursday. The
newspaper said Hughes believes his statement will not
affect his bid for the party leadership.
Thursday's
front-page story in The Sun, under the bold
headline "I'm Gay Too," is the latest in a string of
sensational developments in the left-of-center party.
Kennedy, 46, who took the helm in 1999, stepped down
earlier this month after acknowledging treatment for
alcohol abuse. Senior Liberal Democrats hoped the
resulting leadership contest would prove an ideal platform
to highlight policies and raise the party's profile,
just as David Cameron's election late last year as
Conservative leader fueled publicity for the main
opposition party.
But the impact on
the Lib Dems' popularity was immediate, and a Populus
poll conducted days after Kennedy's resignation saw its
support slip by three points to just 16%, its lowest
rating since 2001. Last week, law-and-order spokesman
Mark Oaten, 41, quit the leadership race only days
before the News of the World newspaper alleged
he had paid for sex with a 23-year-old male prostitute. The
married father of two released a statement to reporters
apologizing for "errors of judgment" and for the
embarrassment caused to family and friends. (AP)
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