Register office wedding for Davies

The pair met while on a Welsh-language course

Former cabinet minister Ron Davies has married his girlfriend - four years after the "moment of madness" which de-railed his political ambitions.

The former Welsh Secretary, 55, stood down as Wales Labour Party leader after an incident involving a stranger at Clapham Common, London, in October 1998.

Ron Davies and Lynne Hughes have three dogs

He divorced his wife Christina in August the following year, admitting he was bisexual, and going on to win a Welsh Assembly constituency seat in his native Caerphilly.

Mr Davies wed his partner and fellow divorcee, Lynne Hughes, 36, with whom he has been living since they met on a Welsh-language course, at a register office in Caerphilly.

The posed for photographers after the ceremony attended by friends and family.

When asked about their honeymoon plans, Mr Davies said: "We have very exciting plans. They are for us."

The new Mrs Davies wore a cream trouser suit for the ceremony.

The wedding is Ron Davies's third

The Caerphilly Assembly Member met Labour supporter Ms Hughes - who is from Aberystwyth and is a community education minister for Caerphilly Council - two months after stepping down from front-bench politics in Wales.

Widely hailed as "the architect of devolution," Davies is now rebuilding his political life as an assembly member following the turn of events in 1998 which left Welsh politics in turmoil and Mr Davies's high-ranking political career in ruins.

He resigned from Tony Blair's Cabinet after he went for a walk on Clapham Common in south London where he met a man and in "a moment of madness" agreed to go to a flat for a meal.

Age gap

He was then robbed at knifepoint.

A man was arrested and charged with robbery but the charge was later dropped.

The following year Mr Davies admitted he had an addiction to "high-risk" situations and sought treatement for his compulsive behaviour.

It was after finishing that treatment that he met Ms Hughes.

The couple, who share a home in the village of Machen, near Caerphilly, with three dogs, have said their 19-year age gap means nothing to them.

They met in August 1999, when the pair were each still with their previous partners.

Mr Davies recently said: "There was a spark. We have a very intense, close relationship.

He added: "It was a very difficult time. The fact of having a relationship with someone like Lynne obviously has been a great source of strength.

"Staunch friend"

"She's been a staunch friend and ally in difficult times. But our relationship is about more than that."

It will be Mr Davies's third marriage, a day after his 56th birthday, and Ms Hughes's second.

Last month, Donald Fearon, 40 - the man Mr Davies accused of robbery - failed to overturn his conviction and jailing for an attack on a female psychotherapist.