Tory cad gets son a job as Nepal poll monitor ... then meets him on taxpayer-funded trip to watch the election

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Tory MP James Gray was at the centre of a fresh controversy last night after securing work for his 17-year-old son as an international election monitor.

Mr Gray, one of five British MPs on a taxpayer-funded trip to observe elections in Nepal this month, surprised other members of the group by linking up with schoolboy William in Kathmandu – then having him accredited by the British Embassy as a monitor.

One member of the party said: "It was bizarre – we are in one of the most remote parts of the world and his son happens to be out there too.

"Not many people get to check up on what their children are doing on their exotic travels courtesy of the taxpayer."

Mr Gray – who battled to keep his North Wiltshire seat after it was revealed he cheated on his 52-year-old wife Sarah as she fought breast cancer – says he asked Britain's ambassador in Nepal to include his son as an election observer because "we were a bit short of numbers".

The MP added: "He was already out there so there was no question of it costing any extra."

The Foreign Office said the trip had been funded by the cross-departmental "Conflict Prevention Pool".

It added: "James Gray's son was involved in the UK's Election Observation Team in Nepal. He was working there at the time, recruited locally on a voluntary, unpaid basis and registered with appropriate authorities.

"The Government did not incur any costs as a result of Mr Gray's son's involvement."

The MP, 53, has set up home with mistress Philippa Mayo, 45, and sparked more controversy by putting her on the public payroll as his diary secretary.

The move exasperated Tory Central Office which urged MPs not to give jobs to family members in the wake of the Derek Conway fiasco.