- Vaizey has been married to Alexandra Mary-Jane Holland for 19 years
- But his name appeared on the birth certificate of Najah Al-Otaibi’s daughter.
It’s the curious case of the married Conservative couple, the ex-wife of a BBC news presenter… and a mysteriously altered birth certificate.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that former minister Ed Vaizey’s names appear on the official document recording the birth of Saudi political analyst Najah Al-Otaibi’s daughter.
In a move sure to get Westminster talking, Najah, 41, who split from news presenter Tim Willcox after two years of marriage, called her Victoria Vaizey Edward Al-Otaibi, which contains an inverted version of Edward Vaizey.
It should be noted that the former MP for Wantage, Oxfordshire, is not specifically named as the father.
To add to the mystery, Najah, who often appears on BBC news programmes, left that box blank.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that former minister Ed Vaizey’s names appear on the official document recording the birth of Saudi political analyst Najah Al-Otaibi’s daughter (pictured)
Vaizey has been married to lawyer Alexandra Mary-Jane Holland for 19 years. Pictured together in 2017
In a move sure to get Westminster talking, Najah, 41, named her Victoria Vaizey Edward Al-Otaibi, which contains an inverted version of Edward Vaizey.
Mrs Najah, who often appears on BBC news programmes, left the father’s box blank.
Lord Vaizey did nothing to quell the speculation when approached by a journalist last week. When asked if he was the father, given that his name appears on the certificate, even if it is the other way around, he replied: “I’m not going to make any comment.”
As arts minister, he was associated with the so-called “Notting Hill set” of conservative west London modernizers who served under then-prime minister David Cameron. Others included George Osborne and Michael Gove, who was later his godfather.
Vaizey has been married to lawyer Alexandra Mary-Jane Holland for 19 years. He was previously in a relationship with Esther McVey, now a Conservative MP.
Vaizey and Najah are involved with the British Saudi Society and appear to have attended the same networking reception in July 2022.
Najah joined in 2020 as a trustee and manages the society’s social media accounts, focusing on “various aspects of Saudi culture”.
Vaizey’s name did not appear on the original December 2022 birth certificate, but was added a year later, just two days before the official deadline for changing names. The father’s permission is needed to be officially named on a birth certificate.
As arts minister, Lord Vaizey was associated with the so-called “Notting Hill set” of west London-dwelling conservative modernisers who served under then-prime minister David Cameron.
Najah, 41, married news presenter Tim Willcox (pictured), 18 years her senior, in 2019, but left him two years later in what friends described as an “acrimonious” split.
Vaizey and Najah are involved with the British Saudi Society and appear to have attended the same networking reception in July 2022. Pictured: Najah outside Downing Street in 2016.
Najah did not respond to calls last week, although she was seen walking with her baby in a stroller near her Notting Hill apartment.
She married Willcox, 18 years her senior, in 2019 but left him two years later in what friends described as an “acrimonious” split.
Willcox made headlines in 2012 when he had an affair with his married partner, BBC presenter Sophie Long.
Oxford-educated Lord Vaizey worked for Conservative MPs Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard as an adviser on employment and education issues.
He practiced as a family law and child care lawyer before becoming an MP.
