Focus: Who ever said that politics was dull?

First Charles Kennedy, the former leader, had quit after slurring the truth about his alcoholism; then Mark Oaten, home affairs spokesman and a married man, had fled the public gaze after revelations of “unspeakable” acts with rent boys. Now Hughes, a stalwart for 20 years, had been caught out as well.

It might yet get worse. This weekend Westminster was abuzz with rumours that a senior married Lib Dem could be exposed for having had a mistress. Others were speculating on the identity of the “energy-saving seducer”, an ambitious Lib Dem MP said to have engaged in a “romantic moment” upstairs at a Lib Dem conference — only to have complained that leaving the lights on was a waste of electricity.

Opponents, when they could stop sniggering, gleefully capitalised on the disarray. In some cities Labour and the Tories were welcoming disillusioned Lib Dem activists and councillors as they defected in dismay at the shambles.

One large donor to the party was scathing. “It was an error of judgment to make Mark Oaten home affairs spokesman,” said the benefactor. “He is, with hindsight, a very untrustworthy character.”

Others tried to defend Hughes’s peccadilloes. One of his supporters, Paul Holmes, who is chairman of the parliamentary party, said: “It’s not as though he has misled anyone about weapons of mass destruction or anything.”

Rejecting accusations that he had lied, Hughes yesterday defended his right to privacy. His denial of being gay had not been “intended to mislead”, he said.

Nevertheless, an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu remains. The last time the Liberals were deemed worthy of so much attention was when Jeremy Thorpe, party leader in the 1970s, was accused of homosexuality and tried for incitement and conspiracy to murder.

Are the Lib Dems prone to gay sex scandals or are all politicians risk-takers who think they can get away with their private adventures?

WESTMINSTER is always awash with rumours of infidelity and potential scandal. Current ones include the cabinet minister in his underpants on a hot July evening, desperately trying to seduce a Labour official at his flat; the minister dumped by his secretary lover because he failed to send her flowers when she was in hospital; and the Conservative MP who flaunts his “pretty boy” researchers.

Much of the time the gossip enlivens the cosy club of Westminster’s MPs and journalists but goes little further. Everyone is human and entitled to some leeway: that was the feeling with Kennedy, whose attachment to drink was known for years.

Outright deception is another matter. When Kennedy confessed in public to his addiction, it was his previous denials that forced him to quit.

Oaten, 41, fared little better. He chose to announce his bid for the leadership with his wife Belinda standing by his side. Here was a man loyal to his family and his former party leader, his team implied. Almost immediately, doubts began to surface.

“His apparent loyalty to Charles was a complete charade,” claimed one Lib Dem insider. “It was disgraceful behaviour. Oaten tried to organise his leadership campaign back in November.” Confronted with evidence of his liaisons with male prostitutes, Oaten resigned as home affairs spokesman and went into hiding early last week.

His implosion ought to have made the leadership contest easier for Hughes. But he, too, struggled with the truth. On the day Hughes announced he was standing for the leadership, he was asked a straight question: are you gay? “No, I am not,” he replied.

Within Westminster, Hughes’s bisexuality had long been suspected by many but remarked on by few. He had caused a bit of stir in 1996 when he appeared at a political dinner in Paris accompanied by two young French men but in general he kept his private life private. ()

He had considerations other than the reaction of fellow MPs and voters. Hughes is close to his aged mother and did not wish her to know of his bisexuality. He is also a Christian, having been at Llandaff Cathedral school, Cardiff, and later a regular worshipper, sometimes at All Souls in Langham Place, central London. Admitting his gay experiences would have collided with those elements of the Church of England that still see homosexuality as a sin.

There were other factors, too. Hughes is known for his lack of punctuality and casual style. “He’s not an organised person and professionalism is key at the top of politics,” said one Lib Dem insider.

Hughes might have refused to give direct answers to certain questions, just as David Cameron, the Tory leader, parried inquiries about his youthful experiences with drugs. Instead, last Wednesday Hughes once again denied that he was gay.

Only hours later, however, all pretence was torn away and Hughes was telling The Sun how he had had both heterosexual and homosexual experiences. Hughes claimed that it had all been his idea to speak out.

Yesterday he reiterated this claim: “I did not make my statement to The Sun . . . because the paper had any specific information about me. I realised that I had to say something because allegations were swirling around every day — most of them completely wrong.”

Not everyone was convinced, including some Lib Dem MPs.

Many in Westminster believed Hughes was forced to admit his bisexuality only because The Sun had confronted him with details of phone calls he had made to ManTalk, a gay chatline.

And it was not just Hughes in the tabloid firing line. Even Sir Ming Campbell did not escape pillory as the party seemed to go into meltdown. “Come on Ming! Give us a ring,” urged The Sun.

As the pantomime rolled on it raised the possibility that Chris Huhne, a leadership contender who became an MP only last year, might fare better than expected.

Despite having spent only eight months at Westminster, he is now second with the bookies to win the leadership.

Gawping at such a meltdown, many observers began to wonder: are the Lib Dems especially given to indulging in drink and gay sex? Neil Hamilton, the former Conservative MP who has faced his own share of controversy, does not think so.

“The Lib Dems aren’t particularly prone to homosexual scandal any more more than Labour is to financial scandal,” he said. “I don’t think the human condition varies much according to political view.”

Perhaps the Westminster hothouse drives everyone slightly mad, or maybe people have to be on the edge of reason to get there in the first place? “It’s a bit of both,” said Edwina Currie, the former Tory minister. “I’ve always felt that you needed a combination of massive ego and altruism to be an MP.”

“You need the ego to want to do the job in the first place, but you also need the altruism because most people who go into parliament are perfectly capable of earning bigger salaries elsewhere.”

Such qualities are a hazardous mix, especially for those — the majority — who fail to achieve power or high office.

“The madness comes when the ego takes over from the altruism,” said Currie. “The main occupational hazards are the three As: alcoholism, arrogance and adultery.”

Currie succumbed to the last and, after leaving parliament, revealed that she had conducted an affair with Major.

For backbenchers and members of parties that stand little chance of real power — such as the Lib Dems — delusions can take hold with a vengeance, according to one former Labour aide.

“Some of the top tier people are well balanced, but there is a raft of people who have a big ego coupled with massive insecurity,” said the aide, one of whose roles had been to research the vices of MPs.

“They get to the point where they have a nice cosy team around them telling them they are wonderful. Then it goes to their head and they think they can get away with anything. That’s when they fall down a hole.”

LATE last week senior Lib Dem figures were trying to play down the chaos.

“It’s yesterday’s story,” said Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, referring to Hughes. “Sexual preference is irrelevant. No party has an issue with this.”

But an ICM poll today shows that Lib Dem support among voters is plummeting — down from the 22% achieved at the election to 18%. Even worse, 39% of Lib Dem voters now say they want Kennedy back as leader.

The shambles has also thrown a harsh light on possible splits among Lib Dems with important donors threatening to withdraw their support. Paul Marshall, a City millionaire who has been a big backer of the party, is understood to be ready to stop if Hughes wins. Several other leading backers are also said to believe that Hughes, the most left-wing of the three leadership candidates, is not fit to lead the party.

Michael Brown, who has given the party more than £2m, has also indicated he will stop funding regardless of who wins the leadership.

One insider close to the leading donors said: “It’s not the homosexuality — it’s the dishonesty. People like Simon, but some of the big backers are disappointed by this revelation. He has basically got very little support from other MPs, not necessarily because of his policies but because he is not an organised person.”

Marshall, co-founder of Marshall Wace Asset Management, has given £1m to a party think tank and £30,000 to the party itself. He is understood to be backing Campbell for the leadership.

The Lib Dems face a further blow with some Muslim members threatening to leave because of Hughes’s bisexuality.

In Birmingham more than 20 Muslim members of the party have quit over the leadership’s “immoral” behaviour and joined either Labour or the Tories. Islam forbids alcohol and regards homosexuality as a “wicked act”.

Among those who defected last week was Ishtiaq Ali, 32, chairman of a Lib Dem branch in the city, and Mohammed Aikhlaq, 48, vice-chairman.

“When I joined the Lib Dems five years ago, I thought it was a party going forward. But recently I’ve been thinking that it’s going backwards,” said Aikhlaq.

But in the long run, most MPs believe that although the recent revelations may hit Hughes and the party’s wider fortunes now, by the time of the next general election it will be Cameron’s Tories that will do more damage.

This was reflected in private research conducted by Lord Gould, Tony Blair’s favourite pollster. On Friday the Labour peer gave a presentation to No 10 aides in which he disclosed that Lib Dem support was falling even before last week’s reports about Oaten and Hughes.

He told government officials that the “trajectory is on a downward trend”, hit by the rising fortunes of the Conservatives.

Scandals or no scandals, that does not bode well for the Lib Dems.

OLD LIBERAL PRACTICES

The Liberals have a long tradition of public service coupled with dodgy private morality. Among notable exponents were:

WILLIAM GLADSTONE

Prime minister for many years in the later 19th century, he roamed London at night attempting to rescue “fallen women”, as prostitutes were known. His success rate, he admitted, was low and the private temptations he felt spurred him into self-flagellation.

HORATIO BOTTOMLEY

A Liberal MP, Bottomley persuaded people to part with small fortunes for business ventures and pocketed much of the cash. In one enterprise he raised £93,000, promising to invest in Austrian publishing companies. No assets were bought, but £88,500 found its way to him. He was jailed in Wormwood Scrubs.

DAVID LLOYD GEORGE

PM from 1916 to 1922. Nicknamed the “Old Goat”, he was said to have had six mistresses while in power. He told one who complained at playing second fiddle: “Be grateful you’re at least in the orchestra.”

TREBITSCH LINCOLN

A Liberal MP and adviser to Lloyd George, he went bankrupt, attempted to spy for Germany in the first world war and, being Hungarian-born, was deported. He later became a Buddhist monk in Shanghai, where he was caught in “an embarrassing position” with a student.

SOUNDBITES

Get down to the bookies and put your house on Ming. He’ll walk it now
— a friend of Sir Menzies Campbell

Although it is a pity Simon was, even recently, denying being gay, it is great that he has now come out
— Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner who stood against Hughes in the Bermondsey by-election of 1983. Hughes was then billed as the “straight choice”

At least no one's shot a dog yet
— A Lib Dem MP, referring to Jeremy Thorpe scandal 30 years ago in which Thorpe’s gay lover’s dog was killed by an alleged hitman

Be who you want to be
— Advert for Man Talk, the gay chat line Hughes is said to have used