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Labour's Angela Eagle has become the first female MP to enter a civil partnership after she wed same sex partner Maria Exall in a private ceremony today.
The 47-year-old Labour MP for Wallasey took part in a civil partnership ceremony with BT engineer Maria Exall in front of family and friends.
Dressed in a white tailored jacket and black trousers, Ms Eagle, the only openly gay woman in the House of Commons, kissed her her partner of 18 years in front of their 50 guests.
Ms Exall, dressed more sombrely in a sharp black trouser suit, beamed at her happily as they posed for photographs.
The marriage comes after fellow Labour MP Harriet Harman blurted out the couple's plans during this month's TUC conference.
'This is probably a secret', Miss Harman said Miss Eagle and 'her long-term partner and ardent trade unionist Maria' would be getting married 'very shortly.'
Miss Eagle admitted she wasn't expecting her colleague to make the revelation but said their plans were not a 'State secret.'
Ms Eagle said she was delighted to be entering into a union made possible by the Labour Government's Civil Partnerships Act of 2004, which she was involved in bringing in.
Her civil partnership, held at Southwark Registry Office in South London, will be followed by a reception at the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham.
Ms Eagle's twin sister, also called Maria, said after the ceremony: 'It's been great, everyone was very pleased and they are very much in love.'
Family and friends will be in attendance, although it is understood that Miss Eagle's boss Alistair Darling may also make an appearance.
At the time of the TUC conference, Miss Exall 48, who sits on the national executive committee of the Communication Workers' Union said they 'were looking forward to their big day'.
Ms Eagle, a keen cricketer, first met Ms Exall at the Peckham Labour Party.
Miss Eagle's marriage comes two years after Labour health minister Ben Bradshaw became the first MP to hold a civil partnership ceremony.
Shadow business secretary Alan Duncan became the first Tory MP to enter into a civil partnership in July, when he wed his partner, James Dunseath.