Tories' candidate Norris to marry his girlfriend

It's enough to make a Tory blue rinse turn white overnight. Yes, Steven Norris, the party's most notorious charmer, is finally to marry his girlfriend.

The former transport minister, who achieved tabloid immortality for his dalliances with five mistresses, will tie the knot next month in the run-up to the London mayoral election.

Mr Norris, whose autobiography Changing Trains was dubbed "Changing Dames" by his admirers, decided to go ahead with the wedding after his divorce from his wife, Vicky, was finalised three weeks ago. The Tory mayoral candidate will marry Emma Courtney, the fourth of his mistresses and the mother of his two-year-old son, Harry.

Mr Norris, 54, and Miss Courtney, 34, are said by friends to be "extremely happy". Despite the timing of the nuptials, Mr Norris has rejected any notion that he was motivated by political expediency.

Friends of Mr Norris point out that he has been in a relationship with Ms Courtney for most of the past 10 years.

His campaign to be mayor of London received a setback last September when his former father-in-law challenged him to end his 30-year marriage and marry Ms Courtney.