Try GOLD - Free
My affair with Truss ruined my marriage, admits ex-MP
The Independent
|March 17, 2025
A former Conservative MP has detailed his love affair with the UK's shortest-serving prime minister Liz Truss - claiming it led to the breakdown of his marriage.
Mark Field, MP for Cities of London and Westminster from 2001 to 2019, revealed the "first serious signs of cracks" in his marriage began “just as Elizabeth Truss entered his life”.
In his new book serialised in The Mail on Sunday, Mr Field said he met the 49-day prime minister at the Conservative Party Conference in October 2002 in the “romantic dimmed lights” of the Highcliff Hotel in Bournemouth. She was married to Hugh O’Leary at the time.
He claims the pair had a brief conversation, he wished her luck in her search for a parliamentary seat and casually said: “Please get in touch if I can be of any help.” Ms Truss took him up on the offer almost immediately, he wrote, requesting advice on candidate selection.
This story is from the March 17, 2025 edition of The Independent.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Independent
The Independent
ON THIS DAY
1803: Composer Hector Berlioz was born near Grenoble.
1 min
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Slot breathes easier as Jones sparkles in diamond shape
It isn’t the most infamous interview a Liverpool player has conducted after a match of late. Not any more, anyway. But after PSV Eindhoven won 4-1 to inflict Liverpool’s joint-heaviest European defeat at Anfield and take their run to nine losses in 12 games, Curtis Jones declared that they were “in the shit”.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
‘It positions the harassment of migrants as a public duty’
Anti-immigrant activists are travelling to northern France to intimidate asylum seekers. Holly Bancroft investigates this disturbing new trend, and the far-right groups promoting it
5 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Doctors consider last-ditch Streeting bid to avoid strike
Health secretary Wes Streeting has accused the doctors' union of \"playing games with patients' lives\" by delaying a decision on whether to call off resident doctors' strikes after he made them a fresh offer to settle.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Bestselling English novelist Sophie Kinsella dies at 55
The author Sophie Kinsella has died aged 55, her family have said. Kinsella, best known for her bestselling Shopaholic novels, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2022. She revealed the news to the public last year.
3 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
How time caught up with reality TV's top starmaker
With ‘The Next Act’, Simon Cowell has effectively remade ‘The X Factor’ for Netflix - and it’s bleak
5 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Alarm as Britain revokes citizenship of hundreds
System allows for 'shocking' racial disparity, finds report
4 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
PARR EXCELLENCE
Martin Parr's photographs are widely, and justly, celebrated. But some critics claim to detect a hint of snobbery. The truth is that he was obsessed with people
4 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Parlous States: let's face it, America has switched sides
What does Donald Trump want from Europeans? It’s a question we didn’t use to have to ask ourselves about American presidents.
4 mins
December 11, 2025
The Independent
Kalu's Turner Prize win is a standout victory for real art
The sculptor's success is a seismic moment for diversity, but equally as significant, argues Mark Hudson, is her emphasis on elements the competition has lost sight of in recent years
3 mins
December 11, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size