Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has revealed why he didn’t tell the parliament about his marriage breakdown before the New England by-election.

The former Nationals leader won the by-election comfortably in December, saying the people of Tamworth knew his marriage was over when he was contesting the seat.

Mr Joyce says his affair with Vikki Campion “wasn’t a secret” while he was campaigning last year.

“At that time, unfortunately, things had come apart and Nat and the girls weren’t campaigning with me,” he tells Ben Fordham.

“It was written in the paper. I told my party room about the marriage break up. I’d said publically. It wasn’t a secret.'”

The former deputy PM assured Ben he notified the chamber that his marriage was over before the by-election.

But he didn’t actually make that announcement in parliament until four days after his victory in New England.

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Mr Joyce has since corrected his comments, telling Ben he knew he’d told the parliament but “didn’t quite remember the date”.

The former deputy PM has since revealed why he kept his marriage breakdown a secret.

“When you’ve got a family you try to keep things… unless you have to tell people you don’t want to because it hurts so many people.”

Click PLAY below to hear Mr Joyce reveal why he kept his separation a secret

In terms of his future in politics, Mr Joyce says he won’t be fading off into the distance any time soon but major political parties are in strife.

“Let’s say everybody’s on the nose.

“When 16 per cent of people in the seat of Longman… vote for a lady who’s on holidays in the Irish sea, you’ve got problems on both sides of the political fence.”

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