‘Christian’ affair MP’s sex shame aide is left high and dry as he heads back to wife he betrayed
Steve Double is back in marital home after wife forgave him but mistress left sofa surfing... and out of a job
EXODUS chapter 20, verse 14, makes it pretty clear: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
But for dad-of-three Steve Double, the Tory MP for St Austell and Newquay, a committed evangelical Christian and former pastor, there is clearly some wriggle room.
Double, 49, who won the seat only last year, campaigned side by side with wife Anne on a family ticket and told voters: “Strong families are the basis of a strong society.”
Few could have guessed at just how strong his own marriage was — because just a week after ending an affair with his 26-year-old blonde aide Sarah Bunt, he is now back in the £400,000 marital home in St Austell, Cornwall, ready to get on with his life.
Anne, 52, told reporters: “I’m not throwing away 30 years’ marriage for the sake of a few hours.”
And she’s as good as her word.
Nor have the revelations affected Double’s standing in Westminster, where Tory pals have closed ranks and assured him “the whole nonsense will blow over within days”.
But circumstances for the young aide are far less rosy.
Sarah has been turfed out of the Newquay home she shared with her husband of two years, Matt, 33, and so far he is refusing to take her back.
Since her job was working with Double and Anne in the constituency office, that looks doomed too.
Sarah’s family have maintained a stony silence, while she has been sofa-surfing with friends.
Saddest of all, friends say she is heartbroken because she genuinely believed Double would set up home with her.
A source close to her said last night: “He said he would leave Anne but that hasn’t happened. Sarah doesn’t know what to think. Her own marriage is on the rocks but it’s too early to say what will happen there.
“She doesn’t want to come out of this looking like a dizzy blonde who went after an older, married man.
"She’s worried about her career and thinking where all of this leaves her.”
Her father-in-law, Phil Bunt, who helped Double canvass for the General Election last year and stood on the committee of the local Tory association, is similarly stunned by the behaviour of the man he trusted.
He has since resigned in disgust from his post on the local Tory association committee.
But while Sarah has barely been seen this week, Double has been enjoying the sun on a tourism junket in Tel Aviv, Israel.
He took the decision to carry on with parliamentary duties despite dumping his mistress eight days ago and admitting the affair to a local newspaper on Monday.
Details first trickled out, then came tumbling. First, he admitted the affair had been more than a one-night stand, then, after Anne declared her loyalty, he fleshed out just how much of an ordeal it had been — for HIM.
He said: “If I could have known the grief it has caused I would not have done it. If I could only undo what happened.
“This affair had only been going a few weeks. It depends on how you define an affair.
“I confessed to my wife. I put out a public statement because somebody was giving information to the local papers and I was being pushed for a statement.
“I confessed to Anne last week. We are both committed Christians and are both forgiving. I am incredibly grateful to my wife. She is an amazing woman. I doubly regret what I put her through. I love her more than ever.”
Related Stories
One detail he was hazy about was where his trysts with Sarah had taken place, denying a rumour they checked into a £49-a-night Travelodge.
The Sun understands some moments of intimacy took place on romantic trips to London, where Double rents an £800,000, one-bed luxury flat on the South Bank, near Westminster Bridge. For this he claims back from the taxpayer £1,500 a month plus council tax.
Backbench MP chums were quick to support him this week and there has been no suggestion from party high command of a seriously blotted copybook.
A fellow MP told The Sun: “When the dust settles, the whips will put him in no doubt this kind of behaviour is hardly becoming for an MP, but it won’t go further than that.
“The fact is, Mrs D is a brick for taking him back.
“It was all a bit of fun but Double’s done the right thing to stand by his wife and call it a day with Sarah. He’ll get a bit of ribbing in the tea room at work but within days this will all blow over.”
Back in Cornwall, too, there is no sense that Double — whose dad founded an evangelical church in St Austell before he took it over 15 years ago — faces any serious repercussions.
One friend of the couple said last night: “They are hugely popular locally and really come as a pair.
“Down here we’ve nicknamed them The Double Act because they always campaign together and deal with people’s problems together. Anne is a town councillor, as was he before he became an MP, so they know almost everyone.
“Anne’s friends and neighbours have been rallying round — offering to drop off home-made suppers, inviting her for sherry and offering a supportive ear.
“Steve has made a silly mistake but she’s right to take him back.”
As for Sarah, she is still waiting to find out what little of her former life she can salvage from this mess.
Husband Matt, who works at a local radio station, is said by friends to to be “heartbroken, disgusted and humiliated” by Sarah’s betrayal but feels pity for his wife.
She quickly packed her bags and quit the home when the affair became public and has not been back since.
Double has now said her employment in his office alongside Anne will be “discussed” during a meeting between them next week.
Sarah has every right to be furious with the philanderer she called her boss.
So perhaps at their meeting he might try to console her with another quote from The Bible, such as Luke 6:37: “Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”