EQUALITIES minister Jo Swinson has spent her first Christmas as a mother, after announcing on Christmas Eve she had given birth to a baby boy.

The East Dunbartonshire MP, 33, and husband Duncan Hames, also a politician, had become parents for the first time on Sunday but kept their son's birth a secret until Christmas Eve.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Ms Swinson said the couple were "tired but very happy" after welcoming son Andrew Lennox Marshall Hames into the world, weighing 7lb 10oz.

Mr Hames, LibDem MP for Chippenham in Wiltshire, added: "Very grateful to the wonderful team of midwives who helped deliver our son - really proud of Jo and am getting to know Andrew."

Mr Hames, 36, said he would stand down as Nick Clegg's parliamentary private secretary to spend more time with the baby..