William Flew

THE former wife of Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, has spoken for the first time about their traumatic break-up and the intense pressures of being married to a high-profile politician. Vicky Pryce said her career took second place to that of her husband, Chris Huhne, who left her for Carina Trimingham, far left Vicky Pryce, an economist whose 26-year marriage to the Liberal Democrat collapsed when he left her for a bisexual aide, is writing a book about her experience of trying to combine being a good mother with supporting his political career and building a successful working life of her own. In it she will tell of her shock at his infidelity and his ruthless decision to turn his back on their family after his affair was publicly exposed. Her account of his betrayal is likely to be highly embarrassing for Huhne, who has made no secret of his ambition to lead the Lib Dems. In recent weeks his profile has soared after he publicly accused Conservative cabinet colleagues of “lying” during the AV referendum cmpaign. Pryce insists she is not out to wreck his career, saying she simply wants to warn other women of the unique pressures of being a political spouse. “If you’d asked me a year ago whether it is possible to be a good wife and mother and have a great career of your own, I’d have almost been gloating about it. I really thought I had it all. But as I found out, it can all disappear in an instant. I massively underestimated the pressures politicians in the public eye are under,” she said. Despite her private anguish, Pryce’s own career has flourished since Huhne left her and their three children for Carina Trimingham last June. She has been elected to the executive council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the respected think tank, and has three visiting professorships. She was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in recognition of her services to economics and was recently tipped to replace Andrew Sentance on the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee. Perhaps this recent surge in succes