Ancroft, 43, told the Sunday Echo newspaper that she dated Williams for “a couple of months” when he first became an MP in 2001. She spoke out as the newspaper published a picture of the Alliance MP apparently snorting cocaine whilst attending a party in the same year. Williams can also be seen in the background of the picture attending the same event, although he is not looking directly at Ancroft at the time. The SDP leader fervently denies claims that he was aware of Ancroft’s drug-taking saying it was “complete news” to him. In a statement to reporters outside his London home yesterday he admitted to once having a “close friendship” with the Alliance MP but reiterated that this was well before he began a relationship with his wife, the actress Anna Lloyd. “I was sorry to hear of Lizzie Ancroft’s struggle with cocaine addiction, but I must make it absolutely clear that I had no knowledge of her drug-taking whatsoever,”
