OUTSPOKEN British Labour front bencher, Clare Short, had a baby while a student 31 years ago and put him up for adoption, it emerged last night.
Ms Short (50), the Shadow Overseas Aid Minister, has now been united with her son, Toby Graham (31), a City of London lawyer who grew up in a Tory background, for tee first time since she gave him up for adoption, after he traced her.
In a joint statement, they said: "We are at the moment happier than we have been in our lives. It is more wonderful than anyone can imagine and makes both of us feel complete. It is like falling in love but less complicated and it is guaranteed to last forever."
Ms Short became pregnant while she was a student in the 1960s. She married her boyfriend but the pair later decided it would be "best for everyone" if the baby was adopted.
The statement said that very soon afterwards they deeply regretted what they had done.
A few weeks ago Mr Graham got in touch, apparently spurred into tracing his natural mother by the birth of his two daughters.
He has said he was a one nation Tory, but was already being won over to the ideas of Tony Blair before he knew that his mother was a member of the Shadow Cabinet.
Mr Blair said: "I am thrilled for Clare that she has met her son and that they have been able to form such a warm relationship.
In their joint statement, Ms Short and her son asked for their privacy, and that of their families, to be respected.
Her first early marriage ended in divorce, while her second husband. the former MP Alex Lyon, died three years ago after a long illness.
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Pablo Picasso's visual record of his love life goes on view at Paris's Grand Palais today. More than 140 portraits from museums and private collections link his first passion with Montmartre model Fernande Olivier to the serenity of his last days with Jacqueline Roque, who committed suicide in 1986.