"I cannot pretend that the last few months have not been amongst the worst of my life. I have been dealing with the very personal and sad consequences of the breakdown of my marriage and the hurt I have caused to those I care for most. I am aware that many people have been angered and upset by events in my personal life. It is a fact that my marriage has broken down and that this is in part due to my deep feelings for another woman.
That this happened at a time when Sarah was diagnosed with a serious illness, thankfully successfully cured early last year, is particularly difficult. All of this has been made even worse for all concerned by the constant and intrusive, very often inaccurate and sometimes malign press attention.
I fervently hope I can persuade you that nothing that has happened has lessened my desire or ability to continue to serve North Wiltshire, as I have done with a steadily increasing majority, for the past ten years. And I do so hope that you will support me in the ballot of members of the North Wiltshire Conservative Association which is due to be posted on 12 January for reply, at latest, by the 29th.
If I were to lose that ballot, I would continue as your MP only until the next General Election, at which the Association would be faced with the task of supporting a new candidate with none of the advantages of incumbency.
Indeed, the one thing that has kept me going over the past difficult weeks has been the enormous support I have had from the people of North Wiltshire. Most are not party members - many may not even have voted for me in the past - but I have been inundated with people’s letters and messages of support for me as their representative in Parliament.
A recent poll in our local paper showed that over 70% of those voting felt I should not be deselected and that my local record of service stands for itself. It is perhaps worth remembering when casting your vote that it will affect all of the people of North Wiltshire, and not just the members of the Conservative Party. If I did not feel I had the support of our voters - those I represent – quite frankly I would have no wish to continue.
That’s why I so hope that you will be able to look past my human failings, understand that what I have done is far from unusual inside or outside politics, and that it in no way affects my ability to be a good and diligent MP.
I ask you to forgive my frailties and allow me to prove myself to you in the future in the best way I know: by continuing to hold North Wiltshire for the Conservative Party, by increasing my majority again and by representing the views and concerns of all my constituents at Westminster. I ask you to cast your vote not emotionally on the failings in my private life, (nor on the friendship we have enjoyed) but on my public record as your constituency MP."
