‘All politicians are failed actors’

closest family are his two nieces and a 100-year-old grandmother, who lives in St John’s Wood.

Simon and Robert had been in a secret relationship for more than 20 years before they decided to come out. “To be gay and openly gay was not something you could do in the Conservative Party in the 1980s. We lived a lie and had flats around the corner from each other. On Monday, we were in my flat and on Tuesday in his.”

“Then, in 2007, Simon was on the brink of becoming chairman of the Local Government Association, making him effectively the most important councillor in the country. He decided we should go public and he asked me to marry him.”

So they quickly planned a civil partnership ceremony at the Ritz Hotel. The first their friends knew about their relationship was when they received their wedding invitations that Monday. One invitee sent the story to the Evening Standard and that Wednesday it became front-page news: Westminster Chief to Wed his Gay Lover.

“So, from being very discreet for years, literally overnight everyone in London knew. We were the first two high-profile people in politics marrying each other. We were on the billboard of every newspaper stand that day,” says Robert.

It turned out to be the best thing for them. They received hundreds of messages from well-wishers.

Since Simon passed away, Robert has immersed himself ever more deeply in his work. Until April last year, he was also a partner at law firm Freeman Box, specialising in property law, but retired as a lawyer to concentrate on fulfilling his many other roles.

Besides the pomp and ceremony of his job, Robert deals with thousands of planning applications that are received in Westminster each year. “I have made a lot of friends, but also made a lot of enemies who don’t like my decisions. “Ultimately, however, you have to feel inside you that you made the right decision, and one which is for the better good of Westminster as a whole.” For now, he can take a break from planning applications as he oversees the final touches to West End Live, and looks forward to singing along to his favourite musical Jersey Boys this weekend.

It was a secret for 20 years, then it was front page news’

‘West End Live’ takes place 18-19 June. www. westendlive.co.uk