British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has confessed to having an affair with one of his secretaries.
Mr Prescott, 67, and Tracey Temple, 43, started meeting in secret at his Whitehall flat after a two-year fling began at an office party.
Mr Prescott told the Daily Mirror: "I did have a relationship with her which I regret. It ended some time ago. I have discussed this fully with my wife Pauline, who is devastated by the news. I would be grateful if Pauline and I can now get on with our lives together."
The pair began working together when Ms Temple was appointed as Mr Prescott's assistant private secretary, with special responsibility to organise his diary.
She had previously worked as a personal diary secretary for former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, and was said to be close friends with the Labour MP who died of cancer last year.
The divorcee lives in Bordon, Hampshire, with lorry driver Barrie Williams, 46.
Mr Williams told the Mirror: "I feel sick. I can't believe the woman I wanted to marry has slept with John Prescott. I've been betrayed by one of the most powerful men in the UK."
It was reported that civil service colleagues were shocked by the way that Mr Prescott flirted with Ms Temple at work. They were said to have started the affair at the office Christmas party in 2002 when they danced together almost all night.
A colleague said she had later seen the diary secretary "nuzzle" Mr Prescott's neck in the lift. She said she thought it was "inappropriate".
Mr Prescott was reported to have laughed off the incident as a "bit of messing about" but three days later was said to be "livid" when office gossip claimed they were having an affair.
However, the newspaper said they then embarked on a full-blown affair with Ms Temple making regularly visits to the Deputy Prime Minister's London residence.
PA