Government minister to marry her lesbian partner - after Harman blurts it out at TUC conference

Details of the gay 'marriage' to her long-term partner, Maria Exall, were blurted out by Harriet Harman in Brighton today in front of more than 500 union delegates.

During a question-and-answer session in the debate about equality, Miss Harman was asked about pension benefits for those in civil partnerships.

MP Angela Eagle is to marry her long-term partner Maria Exall, pictured here at the TUC conference

Starting with the words: 'This is probably a secret', Miss Harman said Miss Eagle and 'her long-term partner and ardent trade unionist Maria' would be getting married 'very shortly.'

Miss Eagle, 47, the MP for Wallasey and the only Labour MP who is openly a lesbian, was sitting in the hall when Miss Harman unexpectedly started talking publicly about her private relationship.

She said: 'I wasn't expecting her to say this and I suspect Harriet wasn't expecting to say it either. But it is not a state secret.'

She will become the first female Labour MP to form a civil partnership, two years after Labour health minister Ben Bradshaw became the first MP to hold a civil partnership ceremony.

Harriet Harman told the TUC about Angela Eagle's forthcoming wedding

Other male MPs have followed, such as Alan Duncan, shadow business secretary, and his partner, James Dunseath, a press officer in the City, in the summer.

Her partner is Maria Exall 48, an engineer for British Telecom who is currently sitting on the national executive committee of the Communication Workers' Union.

Miss Exall, who was also in Brighton for the TUC's annual conference, said: 'We are very happy, excited and looking forward to the day.'

The pair have been together for 18 years, and it was not clear yesterday why they have suddenly decided to enter a civil partnership.

Their civil partnership will be a private family affair followed by a reception at the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, south-west London.

The Grade-II listed pub is owned by the local branch of the Trades Union Congress and is a popular haunt for union stalwarts.

The pub takes it name from a song written during an 11-week strike by women textile workers in America in 1912 about their working conditions.

Their banners called for bread and roses which inspired a song, which include the words: 'Hearts starve as well as bodies, Give us bread but give us roses!'

The pub has a reception room for 80 people, which will include mostly family and friends although it is understood that Miss Eagle's boss Alistair Darling has been invited.

Miss Eagle, who is Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and also a champion chess player and keen cricketer, became the first woman minister to come out shortly after Labour's victory in 1997.

At the time, she said: 'I have a long-term and very happy relationship...I happen to be with a woman.'

During the same newspaper interview, she talked about the problems of combining a happy personal life with a career as an MP who is regularly required to work long, unsocial hours.

Angela Eagle, second from right, stands alongside Chancellor Alistair Darling on Budget day when she was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

She said: 'With your life as an MP, it is very difficult to maintain relationships. Look at the high divorce rates here. This is a lot of pressure on your family.'

Miss Eagle was educated at Formby Comprehensive High School followed by St Johns College, Oxford where she studied PPE (Politicis, Philosophy and Economics).

She has a twin who, like her girlfriend is also called Maria.

Her sister, who is not gay, became Labour MP for Liverpool Garston in 1997, making the pair the only set of identical twin MPs in the House of Commons.

Her aunt, Patricia Eagle, 61, from North Shields, North Tyneside, expressed her surprise at Miss Harman's decision to let the cat out of the bag.

She said: 'I don't think Angela will be very happy about that. I don't know why Harriet Harman would talk about it.

'Angela is very open about being a lesbian but had not made much mention of the fact that she is getting married.

'My husband and I are going to the wedding but I know that not all family members are going, you know how families are with weddings.'