continued during the conference at which Major made his "Back to Basics" speech. In December 1993 it was revealed that Tim Yeo, Minister for the Environment and Countryside, had fathered an illegitimate child, despite having publicly talked of the need to "reduce broken families and the number of single parents"; he later resigned in January 1994. 1994 On 8 January 1994, millionaire MP Alan Duncan resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary after it was revealed that he had acquired a house in Westminster (which had been designated as a council house) adjoining his own 18th century townhouse, at a reduced price, by exploiting a government programme to increase home ownership for the underprivileged. The house had been occupied for decades by an elderly next-door neighbour, and Duncan gave him the money to purchase the house at a huge discount under the "Right to Buy" scheme, on condition that Duncan would take over the house on the neighbour's death. On 9 January 1994, The Earl of Caithness resigned from his post as Minister for Aviation and Shipping one day after his wife committed suicide. According to his wife's father, the tragedy had been precipitated by the Earl's involvement in an extra-marital affair. On 10 January 1994, married Conservative MP David Ashby admitted that he had shared a hotel bed with a "close" male friend on a rugby tour, but denied claims by his wife that he had left her for a man, or that he was having a homosexual relationship. On 16 January 1994, Conservative MP Gary Waller confirmed newspaper reports that he had fathered a child with the secretary of another MP. On 7 February 1994, Conservative MP Stephen Milligan was found dead on his kitchen table as a result of auto-erotic asphyxiation, wearing only a pair of women's stockings and suspenders, with his head covered and an orange segment in his mouth. According to the diary of his long-time friend, the Conservative MP Gyles Brandreth, Milligan had just been offered promotion to a ministerial job earlier that day, and Brandreth speculated that Milligan had gone home "to celebrate". On 13 February 1994, Hartley Booth resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary. The married father of three and Methodist lay preacher claimed that his 22-year-old female researcher had "seduced [him] into kissing and cuddling". On 8 May 1994, Michael Brown resigned as a junior government whip after the News of the World