Davies to quit politics in wake of newspaper's gay sex allegations

Ron Davies, the former Welsh secretary, announced yesterday that he is to leave politics in the wake of claims that he engaged in a gay sex act with a stranger at a beauty spot.

Photographs of Mr Davies emerging from bushes appeared in The Sun newspaper. At first he denied claims he had been at the picnic area in Somerset last Monday. Later he admitted being in the area – a known gay cruising spot – but claimed he had been there many times to walk and look for badgers. Mr Davies, 57, who has married three times and became a father again last month, said he would not stand again for Labour in May's Welsh Assembly elections. He had been under considerable pressure to resign.

He resigned from the Cabinet in 1998 after what he called a "moment of madness" on Clapham Common in south London, also well known for gay cruising, when he was robbed after agreeing to go for a meal with a stranger. The incident cost him the chance of becoming the inaugural First Secretary of the Welsh Assembly, which he had helped bring about, although he remained a member for Caerphilly.

Mr Davies told a press conference at the Welsh Assembly last night that the incident last week had been "pretty horrific'' and that he regretted his handling of the allegations. "I should have handled it another way. I feel badly bruised, this has taken a huge toll on me," he said.