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LONDON - James Gray, a Conservative MP accused of being a "love cheat", survived an attempt to end his political career yesterday, when Tories in North Wiltshire voted to let him fight another election as their Conservative candidate.
A delighted Gray promised to "hold no grudges" against party members who had tried to unseat him after he left his cancer-stricken wife for another woman.
Gray's political future has been hanging by a thread since November, when his constituency party's executive decided not to reselect him as their candidate because he had left his wife, Sarah, to live with Philippa Mayo, campaigns officer for the Countryside Alliance and a married mother of three. Sarah Gray was being treated for cancer.
Tory whips said privately that Gray's behaviour generated more complaints than the revelation last October that another Tory MP, Gregory Barker, had left his wife for a man. Three members of Gray's local party wrote a circular letter this month urging fellow Tories to deselect him.
Gray may still face a challenge from an independent candidate, backed by jilted husband, Patrick Mayo, which would put the Tories' 500 majority at severe risk from the Liberal Democrats.
- INDEPENDENT
