Nick Gibb, the Conservative schools minister, is to marry his partner in November after telling his family he is gay.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Gibb said that he had been in a relationship with his partner, Michael Simmonds, for 29 years but had only recently revealed it after the couple decided to get married.

Mr Gibb told The Times that “we met in a different era so you are in a way locked into that and we were comfortable with it”.

“I think my mother was initially shocked – that’s an age thing – but then very supportive and what she wants is for me to be happy,” he added.

Mr Gibb who took a job as a handyman in a hotel after leaving school admitted that he and Mr Simmonds had spent every Christmas apart since they had been together.

In pictures: UK's first gay weddings Show all 16 1 /16 In pictures: UK's first gay weddings In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Lesbian couple Sarah Keith (left) and Emma Powell embrace while posing for photographs after their same-sex wedding at the Claremont Hotel in Brighton Reuters In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai, center, and Sinclair Treadway, right, pose for photographers with the openly gay mayor of Camden Jonathan Simpson, left, after they were announced officially married in a wedding ceremony in the Council Chamber at Camden Town Hall in London, Saturday 29 March, 2014 AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Helen Brearley (right) and Teresa Millward pose for photographs after getting married at Halifax Register Office Getty Images In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Gay couple Neil Allard (right) and Andrew Wale are married in the Music Room of Brighton's Royal Pavilion shortly after midnight in one of the UK's first same-sex weddings Getty Images In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai, third from left, and Sinclair Treadway, fourth from left, pose for photographs with, from left, the openly gay mayor of Camden Jonathan Simpson, deputy superintendent registrar Steven Lord and registrar officer Tania Uddin AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages A woman waves a rainbow flag as gay couple Peter McGraith and David Cabreza leave Islington Town Hall Getty Images In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages A solitary demonstrator holds a placard in protest against the legalisation of same sex marriage, outside St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, London PA In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai and Sinclair Treadway look jovial as they tie the knot in front of around 100 guests AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages The rainbow flag flies above British Cabinet Offices, marking the first day Britain has allowed same sex marriages, in London Reuters In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Lesbian couple Sarah Keith and Emma Powell (left) react after their same-sex wedding at the Claremont Hotel in Brighton Reuters In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages A pair of shoes are pictured on a chair at a place setting during the reception after the same-sex wedding of couple Sarah Keith and Emma Powell in Brighton Reuters In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Camden mayor Jonathan Simpson speaks during the ceremony, which took place just after midnight on Saturday AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai looks on as his new husband Sinclair Treadway signs official documents AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai and Sinclair Treadway hold hands as they celebrate their marriage AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sean Adl-Tabatabai and Sinclair Treadway toast married life AP In pictures: UK's first gay weddings First gay marriages Sealed with a kiss: Sean Adl-Tabatabai and Sinclair Treadway make it official AP

Marriage was “a practical step,” for the couple and Mr Gibb said that he could not remember who had proposed to the other, although he clarified that the proposal “wasn’t down on one knee”.

He added that they had decided against a civil partnership, as "we felt there should be the same approach for us and other couples" and that "we felt strongly we would wait until marriag ebecame legal".

"If one of us was ill and had to go to hospital it would be awful if we couldn’t be there for each other," he told The Times.

Mr Gibb, who has been an MP since 1997, was schools minister in the coalition government in 2010-12 when he was sacked from the post.