No one has tried to flirt with the "staid" Tory MP Ann Widdecombe over the last 10 years, or, at least, not to her knowledge, she said in a questionnaire made public today, writes Chris Moncrieff of the Press Association.
Her forthright answers to a series of questions about her life since turning 50 dealing with such issues as bikini-wearing, inappropriate clothes, drinking and embarrassing dancing are published in the latest issue of Saga magazine.
As a result of her answers, the magazine assessed her "virtual age" as 75. In reality, Widdecombe is 60.
When asked whether she had been "flirted with" since turning 50, the former prisons minister replied: "Gracious me, no! Not that I am aware of. I have certainly not instigated any flirting, either. It's not my way of doing things."
And when asked if she had ever held her stomach in on a beach, she rejoined: "I never go on the beach unless it is for the purpose of walking fully clothed, not lying down in a bikini. What an idea! Spare me!"
Widdecombe was no less forthright when she was asked whether she knew what was No 1 in the pop charts. "You're joking, surely?" she replied. "I haven't a clue what is in the pop charts."
She said she hated pop music: "I have never been to as pop or rock concert in my life. Spare me!"
She also said that she had never worn inappropriate clothes at a party. "I am very staid. I play safe with my outfits."
And she had "certainly not" danced in an embarrassing fashion, saying: "I can be quite certain of this because I don't dance."
But Widdecombe declined to say whether she had drunk too much over this period. "I consider that an intrusive question," she said.
The Tory MP recalled that she went blonde in 2001 because her hair was going white. "I was surprised it frightened people quite as much as it did," she said.
But she stressed that she had "certainly not" toyed with the idea of cosmetic surgery.
"I think to go under the knife, when there is no health issue at stake, shows a complete absence of proportionality."
