This is the full statement issued by Liberal Democrat president Simon Hughes:
“I believe that people have a right to a private life, providing that their private life does not impinge upon their public responsibilities.
“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.
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“Today, however, I have accepted publicly that I have had homosexual relationships in the past as well as heterosexual ones.
“No element of illegality or payment has ever been involved.
“I do not believe that anything that I have done has impinged upon my capacity to serve my constituents or fulfil any of the roles that I have sought, undertaken or am seeking for the future.
“I intend to continue to work for them with enthusiasm.”