Nick Browns ministerial job safe after gay outing

09 November 1998

Nick Browns ministerial job safe after gay outing

The government rallied around Nick Brown with a united show of support after the agriculture minister was outed as gay over the weekend.

Mr Brown made a public announcement about his homosexuality only hours before the New of the World was due to publish the revelations of one of his former male companions.

The prime ministers office issued a statement saying Tony Blair was fully in support of his minister.

Mr Brown said in statement that “there is nothing in my past or present to give them any doubt in my ability to serve them and the government”.

He denied he paid for sex with the man trying to sell the story of his relationship to the paper.