On 4 February 2013, the former cabinet minister Chris Huhne pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. At Southwark Crown Court, the Liberal Democrat MP admitted persuading his then-wife, Vicky Pryce, to accept speeding penalty points on his behalf in 2003 to avoid a driving ban.

Huhne, who had consistently denied the allegations for nearly two years, changed his plea on what was due to be the first day of his trial.

Huhne stood in the 2006 and 2007 Liberal Democrat leadership elections. In the latter contest, Huhne secured 20,477 votes (49.4%), and was only narrowly beaten by Nick Clegg, who won 20,988 votes (50.6%). It later emerged that approximately 1,300 postal ballots had been delayed in the Christmas post and arrived after the deadline. An unofficial count of these late papers suggested that, had they been included, Huhne would have won the leadership.

Following the 2007 leadership election, Clegg re-appointed Huhne to the Liberal Democrat frontbench as home affairs spokesperson.

Three years later, Huhne was appointed as energy and climate change secretary in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Huhne resigned as energy and climate change secretary on 3 February 2012 after the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Keir Starmer, announced there was “sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against both Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce for perverting the course of justice.”

Starmer added: “The essence of the charges is that between March and May 2003, Mr Huhne, having allegedly committed a speeding offence, falsely informed the investigating authorities that Ms Pryce had been the driver of the vehicle in question, and she falsely accepted that she was the driver.”

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Huhne thereby became the first cabinet minister in British history to resign as a result of criminal proceedings. He was the third cabinet minister to resign since the coalition was formed in May 2010 – following Liberal Democrat David Laws and Conservative Liam Fox.

In his resignation letter, addressed to David Cameron as prime minister, Huhne said he intended to mount a “robust defence against the charges brought against me”. The senior Liberal Democrat MP had concluded that “that it would be distracting both to that effort and to my official duties if I were to continue in office.”

Cameron responded that he believed Huhne had made “made the right decision under the circumstances”. The prime minister recognised Huhne as a “member of the team which negotiated the formation of the coalition government between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats in those crucial days after the [2010] general election”.

In a separate exchange, Clegg said he hoped Huhne would be able to clear his name “rapidly” so that he could return to government.

Huhne told Clegg that it had been a “privilege to serve with you in the first group of Liberal ministers in a British government since 1945.”

He added: “I have been proud to help put our commitments to freedom, fairness and the environment into practice, and to demonstrate once again that liberalism is alive and well in the country of its birth.”

Ed Davey replaced Huhne as energy and climate change secretary.

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On 4 February 2013, Huhne’s legal team invited the court to read the indictment once more. His barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, had previously described the prosecution’s evidence as “at best gossamer thin.” However, after failing in a final bid to have the case dismissed, Huhne entered a guilty plea.

The court had decided to admit text messages between Huhne and his son, Peter, as evidence.

In a text to his father, Peter Huhne wrote: “We all know that you were driving and you put pressure on Mum. Accept it or face the consequences. You’ve told me that was the case. Or will this be another lie?”

Chris Huhne responded: “I have no intention of sending Mum to Holloway Prison for three months. Dad.”

Peter Huhne replied: “Are you going to accept your responsibility or do I have to contact the police and tell them what you told me?”

In a short statement outside the court, Huhne said: “I have pleaded guilty today. I am unable to say more while there is an outstanding trial.

“Having taken responsibility for something which happened 10 years ago, the only proper course of action for me is to resign my Eastleigh seat in parliament which I will do very shortly. That is all I can say today.”

Huhne also resigned from the privy council.

Clegg responded: “I am shocked and saddened by what’s happened, but I believe that Chris Huhne has taken the right decision in resigning as an MP.”

The court had been told that the case became public after Vicky Pryce, following the couple’s separation, revealed the story to newspapers.

On 11 March 2013, Huhne and Vicky Pryce were sentenced to eight months in prison.

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Huhne’s resignation as an MP precipitated the Eastleigh by-election on 28 February 2013.

The Liberal Democrat candidate, Mike Thornton, retained the seat with 13,342 votes (32.1%). The result was notable for the strong performance of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), which placed second with 11,571 votes (27.8%).

Huhne had won the Eastleigh seat at the 2010 general election with 24,966 votes (46.5%).

Huhne, 58, was released from HMP Leyhill after serving nine weeks.

Huhne later claimed his prosecution formed part of a campaign by Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers – in retaliation for his support for reopening the police investigation into phone-hacking during his tenure as Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson.

Huhne told the BBC: “The way this was specifically done was a very clear payback for the fact, as a former journalist, I was not able to resist going public on how the police should reopen the investigation into voicemail hacking and the Murdoch press.

“I was the only frontbencher to do that. Maybe it was coincidence but it was just at that time that not only did the News of the World voicemail-hack me but put a full-time investigator on to tailing me…

“It is not straight journalism. It is about the Murdoch press using the power it has to pursue Rupert Murdoch’s own business interests.”