Senior Tory MP has MS

Mr Maclean, 49, has the progressive form of the disease but is determined to continue with his Westminster work.

" I passionately believe that if I am going to fight for my constituents in Westminster then I have to have the guts to face my own difficulties and overcome them "
David Maclean

The MP for Penrith and The Border said he had gone public about his condition following speculation over his worsening condition.

MS is a disorder of the central nervous system - affecting around one in 1,000 people - which can lead to increasing paralysis.

"I firmly believe that hard work is the only way to tackle an illness like this one," Mr Maclean said in a statement.

"I have been fighting this for five years now and I am not going to let it slow me down in doing my job."

He added: "I also passionately believe that if I am going to fight for my constituents in Westminster then I have to have the guts to face my own difficulties and overcome them.

Dogmatic Thatcherite

Mr Maclean said that if Home Secretary David Blunkett could do a good job without eyesight, then he could also cope with a disability.

Since Christmas his condition has got progressively worse, and is now affecting his right leg.

"I shall probably need to use a stick for the foreseeable future or until my legs cease to work completely," Mr Maclean said.

Mr Maclean was elected MP for Penrith and The Border in 1983 and served as a minister for eight years under Lady Thatcher and John Major, most notably at the Home Office.

He has a reputation as a dogmatic Thatcherite, with strong views on law and order, and once said the only thing he gives beggars "is a piece of my mind".