Damaging: Tory MP Louise Mensch has revealed how taking drugs during her twenties affected her
Tory MP Louise Mensch has confessed taking Class A drugs has caused her long-term damage and disturbed her mind.
The 'chick-lit' author has revealed taking illegal substances in her twenties made her anxious, stressed and unable to be happy.
Her comments, reported in The Sunday Times, come after the backbencher MP was forced to admit she had taken drugs while working at EMI as a press officer.
The 40-year-old Corby MP was contacted earlier this year by investigative journalists who claimed they had photographs of Mrs Mensch taking drugs with Nigel Kennedy in a nightclub.
She said it was 'highly probable' she had taken drugs with the violinist and that it was most likely 'not the only incident'.
Her admission, far from ruining the mother-of-three's political career, boosted her popularity within the party for being refreshingly honest.
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Her new confessions revolve around her drug-taking and her love life with her new husband, rock band manager Peter Mensch - who looks after a number of rock groups including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica.
In a candid interview she says: 'I don't want to sound too flippant about it [taking drugs]. It was very damaging and I wish I had not done it.
'I do blame them for disturbing my long-term happiness. I blame drug use in my twenties for making me jumpier and more nervous than I needed to be.'
The MP, daughter of a wealthy stockbroker and headmistress, who writes romantic novels under her maiden name Louise Bagshawe, added taking drugs was a 'natural part of growing up'.
'If I went down to a nightclub, there was an awful lot of it going on in plain sight,' she added, but saying she eventually stopped becase she 'grew out of it'.
Mrs Mensch's profile has increased after her questioning of Rupert Murdoch on the phone-hacking scandal as a member of the culture, media and sport select committee.
And although many of her colleagues have praised her political manoeuvring, she describes herself as 'socially liberal and economically Tory'.
An appearance on Have I Got News For You and glossy photo shoots have catapulted her onto a different platform to her colleagues.
But it seems privacy for her three children, who she shares custody with her former husband Anthony LoCicero, is paramount.
After nine years of marriage they split in 2009 citing 'enormous stress', as Mrs Mensch tried to juggle writing with her burgeoning political career.
At the time, friends said no one else was involved in the separation.
Six months later, she and Mr Mensch went on their first date, he told the Mail earlier this year.
The 58-year-old also split from his wife, former school teacher Melissa Meyer, 44, in 2009.
And when the pair did marry, they kept it a secret, not even telling Ms Mensch's three children.
She was stumped recently when asked the question was asked.
Mrs Mensch, a ‘Cameron Cutie’ tipped for Ministerial office, triggered intrigue by telling the interviewer: ‘My God. Um . . .OK . . . I’ve always wondered what I would say the first time somebody asked me this question.
'And without denying it, I’m going to refuse to answer.’
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