Oh, what a gay August in Tory circles

Whatever happened to political correctness and a sympathetic hearing for married men who realise in midlife that they are gay? Apparently senior Tories in Crispin Blunt's constituency were furious when he upped and announced on Friday afternoon that he had left his wife, Victoria, and was "coming to terms with his homosexuality".

According to the Sunday Telegraph, members of the Reigate Conservative Association were unhappy to learn about the junior justice minister's "hidden feelings" and said they would never have picked him as their MP back in 1997 if they had known then what they know now.

Of course, you don't get much more 'Tory stockbroker belt' than Reigate. The local Conservatives could have had their pick of the most heterosexual, upstanding Tory stalwarts the country has to offer. They chose a former Army officer and thought they'd found a jolly good chap.

"One of the reasons he [Blunt] was selected was because he had a nice, compact family unit," said Tony Collinson, the former local Tory chairman who was on the selection panel, adding: "He made a quite a bit of it."

Aha, the hypocrisy! Another - unnamed - Tory told the Sunday Telegraph: "This for a lot of people is the final straw."

The final straw? Don't you believe it. If the rumours spinning around Westminster contain even an iota of truth, there are other Tories about to be outed - at least one of them senior enough to have the burghers of Reigate spluttering into their G&Ts.

Power is an aphrodisiac, of course, and we shouldn't be surprised at a rush of sex scandals three months into a new government. But why all the gossip should concern homosexual rather than heterosexual activity beats me. (Oops, careful.)

 ·