Menage a Tories - The MP, the loyal wife and his gay lover

Rising Tory star Greg Barker, his soon to be ex-wife Celeste and William Banks-Blaney – the man in his life - have struck up an unlikely friendship.

The scandal that engulfed the politician, one of David Cameron's most trusted confidants, when news of his homosexual affair emerged rocked the Conservative Party and stunned Westminster.

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But the couple appear to have weathered the storm for, while their marriage will shortly be officially over, they remain friends – and, perhaps surprisingly, Mrs Barker has even met Mr Banks-Blaney.

Far from any animosity suggested at the time of their split last year after 14 years of marriage, the 42-year-old mother of the Barkers' three young children actually asked to be introduced.

The wife and the boyfriend of the Bexhill and Battle MP have met a couple of times recently.

"Celeste wanted to meet him and was surprised at how well they got on," said a family friend yesterday.

The Tories' environment spokesman and his wife split last July after the MP met 32-year-old Mr Banks-Blaney, a former salesman at Viscount Linley's furniture shop in London.

The men separated as the Barkers tried to save their marriage but, say friends, brewery heiress Celeste eventually realised it wasn't going to work and decided "they could be a family in a different way".

Mr Barker, 41, one of the wealthiest MPs at Westminster, now spends the week at his £1.2million Chelsea flat and weekends at the marital home,a £1.5million-plus Georgian mansion in Sussex, with his wife and children aged 11, seven and six.

The couple's divorce goes through in August, but they plan to maintain a family home in his constituency to enable him to spend time with his children.

The friend said: "It has been a tough and difficult year for them but they have come through remarkably well, amazed at how kind and understanding people can be.

"Despite their sadness at the end of their marriage, they are both determined so far as the children are concerned to remain a close family and are working hard to keep it that way.

"But it is only really possible to such a degree because there still remains a genuine bond and a lot of mutual support.

"The end of their marriage doesn't mean the end of the family.

"They are properly separated and don't pretend to be Mr and Mrs or do couple things.

"But Celeste will occasionally accompany him if she wants to, and you still see them together at the school or at the pub on a Sunday.

"And they went skiing with the children for a week in Switzerland in the spring."

Mr Banks-Blaney was in New York when news of the affair broke in October.

He and the MP are waiting for Mr Barker's divorce to come through before deciding on their future.

"Will hasn't been back in the UK that long but Celeste decided she wanted to meet him and was surprised at how well they got on, not least because whatever happens, he understands too that so far as Greg is concerned, his children will always come first," said the friend.

The MP is a key ally of his party leader and went with Mr Cameron to Norway last April to see the effects of climate change on glaciers.

He is worth an estimated £ 7.4million, and is a former adviser to Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

Mr Barker graduated in history and politics at London University and, after a spell at the London Business School, held jobs in corporate finance and PR.

His wife is an heiress to the Charles Wells Brewery business.

The Barkers made their fortune by selling stakes in a recruitment advertising company in 2001.

Mr Barker told his local Conservative-Association last July that he was leaving his wife.

When news of his gay affair emerged, some local Tories called for his resignation but his wife urged officials not to sack him, arriving unexpectedly at a meeting, to tell them: "He is a fantastic dad."

Mr Banks-Blaney, an only child, was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

He graduated from the University of Buckingham in 2000 with a history of arts degree.