By JAMES WHITE and JASON GROVES 3rd February 2012 Chris Huhne was forced to resign as Energy Secretary today after being charged with a criminal offence over claims he persuaded his ex-wife to take his speeding points. In a dramatic move the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the Liberal Democrat MP and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce would both be charged with perverting the course of justice – an offence that typically carries a prison sentence of more than two years. Mr Starmer said the charge centred on claims Mr Huhne lied to investigators about who was driving a speeding car in 2003. Resignation: Chris Huhne gave a brief statement in which he stepped down from his Energy Secretary job outside his home in London after he was charged with perverting the course of justice today Charge: Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has been charged with perverting the course of justice over claims he lied to investigators about handing speeding points to his ex-wife Vicky Pryce, right In response Mr Huhne quit his role as Energy and Climate Change Secretary in order to fight to clear his name over the allegations, which he denies. He is entitled to a severance payment of more than £17,000 under ministerial rules, but it is not yet clear if he will choose to accept it. New partner: Chris Huhne with Carina Trimingham at an exhibition last year. The former minister left his wife Vicky Pryce for his former aide in 2010 Backing: Nick Clegg called Mr Huhne 'a good friend and colleague' as he spoke about the announcement today David Cameron and Nick Clegg had already drawn up plans for an emergency reshuffle, with Lib Dem employment minister Ed Davey taking over Mr Huhne's job. New job: Ed Davy, pictured in Eastbourne today, has been promoted to Energy Secretary after the resignation of Chris Huhne Mr Cameron said Chris Huhne made 'the right decision' in resigning as a Cabinet minister. The charges follow a bitter feud between Mr Huhne and Miss Pryce, who split up in 2010 when he left her for his former aide Carina Trimingham. They relate to claims that Mr Huhne persuaded his then-wife to take penalty points for him so he would avoid a driving ban after being caught speeding on the M11 in Essex in May 2003. The Liberal Democrat politician and Miss Pryce were told of the decision only minutes beforehand. This morning outside his London home, he called the charge 'deeply regrettable' and said: 'I am innocent of the charge and intend to fight this in the courts. 'So it doesn't become a distraction I am standing down and resigning as Energy and Climate Minister. I will continue to serve my constituents in Eastleigh.' In a statement, Miss Pryce, an economist, told the BBC she hoped for a 'quick resolution' to the case. She said: 'As the CPS have decided to prosecute it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage. Obviously I hope for a quick resolution of the case,' she said. 'In the meantime I will be taking a little time off over the next few days to be with my family.' As the Mail revealed last week, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood ruled that the Energy Secretary would have to quit for the good of the Government. 'Right decision': Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured meeting soldiers at Royal Marine Stonehouse in Plymouth today, backed Mr Huhne's resignation Announcement: Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said enough evidence had been gathered to charge the pair That torpedoed an attempt by friends of Mr Huhne to suggest he would not have to quit to defend himself. Today it was confirmed that Mr Davey, the Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs, will replace Mr Huhne in the Cabinet, with Lib Dem MP and senior Clegg aide Norman Lamb taking over Mr Davey's post. It has taken nearly nine years for Chris Huhne to be charged in relation to a speeding offence - this is how it happened: March 12 2003: Mr Huhne, a Member of the European Parliament, is returning home to Clapham, south London, from Stansted Airport when his vehicle is caught speeding in Essex. It is alleged he asked 'someone' to take the three penalty points so he could avoid a driving ban. May 2005: The politician enters Parliament as MP for Eastleigh and is appointed Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, dealing with tax and public spending. January 2006: Within months of arriving at Westminster he stands against party veteran Sir Menzies Campbell, who beats him into second place for the Lib Dem leadership. March 2006: Mr Huhne is appointed party spokesman for environment, food and rural affairs. October 2007: Mr Huhne bids to lead the party again but is beaten by current leader Nick Clegg by 511 votes. December 2007: The grandfather of one is appointed Lib Dem home affairs spokesman. May 2010: He joins the coalition Government Cabinet, being appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. June 2010: His affair with his PR adviser Carina Trimingham is exposed. September 2010: Mr Huhne, a father of five, separates from wife Vicky Pryce after 26 years of marriage. May 8 2011: Sunday newspapers report allegations that the MP asked someone to take his speeding points to avoid a driving ban in 2003. He denies the claims. May 13 2011: Labour MP Simon Danczuk makes a formal complaint to police about the allegations facing Mr Huhne and asks officers to investigate. May 15 2011: Reports emerge that Ms Pryce is alleged to have taken the penalty points on his behalf. August 17 2011: The Crown Prosecution Service asks Essex Police to investigate further after being handed a file by detectives. January 20 2012: The Sunday Times drops opposition to a police request to release emails relating to the case. February 2 2012: The CPS announces Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, will make an on-camera statement regarding possible charges against Mr Huhne and his ex-wife. Mr Huhne attends an annual Lib Dem away-day in Eastbourne to discuss a variety of policy and party matters. February 3 2012: Mr Starmer announces on live television that the pair will be charged with perverting the course of justice and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later in the month. The 57-year-old makes a statement vowing to fight the accusation but stands down from Government, to be replaced by Ed Davey. Nick Clegg leaves the continuing away-day at Eastbourne’s Hydro Hotel, returning to Whitehall to deal with the fall-out from Mr Huhne’s charge. Mr Cameron will today go ahead with a trip to the South West after agreeing the details of the reshuffle with Mr Clegg. Essex Police have been collecting evidence about the case against Mr Huhne, 57, who is accused of dodging a driving ban by making his ex-wife take penalty points when he was caught speeding on the M11 in 2003. A fortnight ago, police were handed a cache of more than 100 emails from Miss Pryce after winning a court battle to get the evidence from a newspaper. Detectives have also analysed a tape recording between Miss Pryce and Mr Huhne during which they discuss the allegations, a sworn affidavit which Miss Pryce made to the Sunday Times confirming her claims, and text messages between Mr Huhne and his son Peter in which they discuss the case. In an interview with the Commons House Magazine released last night, Mr Clegg gave only lukewarm support to Mr Huhne. He said: ‘I’ve no idea what the CPS is going to do. Chris has no idea. I don’t have a crystal ball. All I can tell you is that he has made it very clear to me privately and he’s said it publicly that he denies any kind of wrongdoing.’ Mr Clegg also praised David Laws, who resigned from the Government over his expenses in 2010, indicating he wants him to take a second-tier job in the Cabinet Office, which oversees other departments. ‘I think he’s got an ability to see the connections between policies which is quite unusual,’ he said. The alleged incident dates back nearly a decade, but only emerged after Mr Huhne admitted an affair with Miss Carina Trimingham in 2010 and ended his marriage. The Sunday Times reported that he had allegedly been caught by a speed camera on March 12 2003. He has consistently denied claims that he was the one behind the wheel and that Miss Pryce admitted the offence because he would have faced a ban if he collected any more penalty points. Mr Huhne is alleged to have been returning from Stansted Airport to his home in Clapham, south London, on the day in question, having flown in from Strasbourg, where the European Parliament sits. Images have since emerged of Miss Pryce’s driving licence, indicating that she received three points for a speeding offence in the Essex area on March 12 2003. However, she is believed to have later said she was actually at an event in London that day. Essex police started an investigation when it was claimed in a Sunday Times interview with Miss Pryce last May that her ex-husband asked 'someone' to take speeding points on his behalf. It later emerged that she was apparently the 'someone' concerned. The newspaper interview followed the couple’s split. Mr Huhne and Miss Pryce had been married for 26 years and had three children and two stepchildren together. After the allegations surfaced, the Eastleigh MP said the claims were 'simply incorrect' and had previously 'been shown to be untrue'. Both Mr Huhne and Miss Pryce were interviewed by detectives before the case was handed to the CPS. Both Mr Huhne’s Lib Dem and Tory colleagues have expressed support for his remaining in post during the investigation. The CPS decision was delayed by a court battle to obtain key emails from the Sunday Times, believed to be between its political editor and Ms Pryce. The newspaper finally handed over the documents at the end of last month. The investigation into claims he dodged points for speeding are just the latest storm in a turbulent period for the ambitious Liberal Democrat MP, both politically and personally. Often outspoken and fiercely ambitious, Mr Huhne thrust himself into the front ranks of his party by coming close to snatching the leadership just eight months after first becoming an MP in 2005. In 2007, he was once again a narrow runner-up, this time to Nick Clegg in a sometimes rancorous contest in which the now Deputy PM was branded 'Calamity Clegg' by team Huhne. His high-profile made him an obvious candidate to join the negotiating team that struck a coalition deal with the Tories, though one he admitted involved 'unpleasant' compromises. Among them was nuclear power - a issue on which as Energy Secretary he has trodden a tight-rope between his party’s ultra-green grassroots and Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity drive. Top Minister: Liberal Democrat Energy Minister Mr Huhne could now resign from the Cabinet over the allegations He has forged a positive reputation for much of his work to push the green agenda - including achieving modest progress in “anarchic” global climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico. But within weeks of taking office, Mr Huhne suffered the first in a string of negative newspaper stories sparked by issues outside of his departmental brief. Newspapers uncovered his 'serious' relationship with former aide Carina Trimingham, forcing him to announce that he was separating from his wife, Greek-born government economist Vicky Pryce. She has revealed that he broke the news to her during half-time of a televised World Cup match - and then immediately went to his study to write the statement and send it out to the press. The end of the 26-year marriage between the couple, who have three children together, was confirmed in a 2011 divorce announcement - but it would prove far from the end of the story. In the meantime, it was another marriage - with the Conservatives - that was also proving somewhat rocky as Mr Huhne riled backbench Tories with a string of digs. He publicly suggested spending cuts may have to be reined in, blamed Tories in his constituency for closing children’s centres and appeared to clash with the Chancellor over green energy. The most virulent attacks on coalition colleagues were over what he claimed were smears and lies in anti-AV leaflets, as the governing partners took opposing sides in the vote reform referendum. Quite apart from accusing Tory chairman Baroness Warsi of issuing Nazi-style propaganda, he directly confronted Prime Minister David Cameron in an outburst across the Cabinet table itself. Later he dismissed as a 'fairly marginal mistake' the accidental publication of a private message apparently showing he was keen for a media story about the Tories not to be linked back to him. Facing the cameras: Chris Huhne resigns from the Government this morning A sometimes abrasive style has won him few friends among Tories - and even Mr Clegg felt able publicly to make a jibe at the expense of his colleague’s biggest challenge to date. 'Whatever people say or think about Chris Huhne, I really don’t know any politician who is better at getting his points across,' the party leader joked to reporters at a Westminster lunch. He was referring to the eight-month police investigation which has dominated speculation about Mr Huhne’s future and overshadowed his political career. While the alleged incident dates back nearly a decade to his time as an MEP, the allegation that he escaped a driving ban by persuading Ms Pryce to accept penalty points on his behalf only emerged after their acrimonious split. He has spoken subsequently of his 'enormous regret' at the bitter break-up and revealed that he had apologised but that his plea for forgiveness was rebuffed. Born in July 1954, Mr Huhne was educated - like Mr Clegg - at Westminster School before going on to the Sorbonne in Paris and Magdalen College, Oxford. Entering journalism he became economic commentator for The Guardian, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, as well as working for the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo and The Economist and was named financial journalist of the year in 1990. In 1994, he founded one of the largest teams of economists in the City and he is the author of four books - the most recent an argument for British membership of the euro. Elected as a Member of the European Parliament for south-east England from 1999, he became the Liberal Democrat group’s deputy leader and served on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. His victory at Eastleigh in the 2005 election followed defeats in Reading East and Oxford West and Abingdon during the 1980s. In the 2010 general election he held the Hampshire constituency with slim majority of just 3,864 - a significant advance on the wafer-thin 568 vote margin by which he won the first time. In the most recent edition of a parliamentary book, he lists his interests as family, football, cinema and history. During the last leadership contest, one newspaper uncovered a bizarre article published under Mr Huhne’s byline in a 1970s student magazine, which advocated the tolerance of class A drugs such as opium and LSD. Mr Huhne claimed not to remember whether he had written it.Chris Huhne quits as Energy Minister after being charged with lying to police over speeding points that 'wife took for him'
Ex-wife Vicky Pryce is also charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly accepting penalty points for Mr Huhne's speeding offence
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NINE YEARS FROM SPEEDING OFFENCE TO CRIMINAL CHARGE
Outspoken and ambitious, the economist who rose to the top of the political pile
CHRIS HUHNE'S RESIGNATION LETTER TO CAMERON AND HIS REPLY
Friday, 3 February 2012
Chris Huhne has never strayed far from the top of the bookies’ list of ministers most likely next to exit the Cabinet - even before coming under the gaze of the police.
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