London: British Opposition Leader William Hague is pregnant.
A beaming yet at times tearful Conservative Party leader made the surprise announcement outside his party's annual conference at the picturesque seaside resort city of Blackpool yesterday.
Flanked by his beautiful young wife, the former Ffion Jenkins, and his long-term lover, Newcastle computer programmer, Jason Tunbridge, the Member for Richmond repeatedly patted his clearly extended tummy for the lenses of the world's media.
It is understood one of Mrs Hague's eggs has been fertilised by a sperm donated by Mr Tunbridge and implanted on the outside of Mr Hague's lower colon in what is a world first for British medical science.
The only bitter moment for the beaming trio's announcement came when a foreign news reporter asked Mr Hague if his pregnancy was a cynical and opportunistic response to the enormous public goodwill that his opposite number Prime Minister Tony Blair was enjoying following the recent birth of his fourth child Leo.
Choking back tears and clasping the hands of both his wife and lover, Mr Hague said the blessed event was totally unplanned.
"My doctors have told me everything is proceeding normally and the birth is expected to take place several weeks before the next general election."
Mr and Mrs Haigh and Mr Tunbridge said they could hardly wait until the child was old enough to be read bed-time tories.

Belfast: Swift police action near here has saved the life of a local politician who had attempted to commit suicide.
The Member for Derry, John Dunlea, had been depressed for some time after his marriage breakup. Friends called police after he left a Londonderry pub at 7pm last night in a drunken state and declaring he was "going on a one-way ride."
After a frantic all-night search, police in a million to one chance found Dunlea early this morning unconscious in his locked car in a farm laneway 40 miles away. A hose pipe from the car's exhaust pipe was jammed into the driver's window and all other windows were wound up.
A police spokesperson said: "This poor blighter had been having a tremendous run of bad luck, both in his personal and political lives, and running out of petrol was the straw that broke the camel's back, it seems."
Mr Dunlea is expected to make a full recovery from the effects of hypothermia.