Civil partnership for gay Tory MP Nick Boles

Conservative MP Nick Boles has tied the knot with his partner.

The 45-year-old had a “quiet” civil partnership ceremony with his partner Shay Meshulam in Camberwell in March, the Guido Fawkes blog reports.

A source said the couple invited close friends and family but intend to have larger celebration in the summer once parliament breaks up.

A spokeswoman for the MP said: “Mr Boles is very happy about it and that’s all we can say.”

Other MPs to have had civil partnerships include Tory MP Alan Duncan and Labour MP Chris Bryant.

Mr Boles, who represents Grantham and Stratford, was elected in 2010 after missing out on the marginal seat of Hove in 2005.

He was a strongly-tipped candidate for the Tory nomination for Mayor of London in 2007, but withdrew to recover from Hodgkins Lymphoma, a type of cancer.

The former businessman has spoken about declaring his sexual orientation to candidate selection committees, saying he was not embarrassed and it was right to tell them.