David Cameron's ex becomes a nun

After dating a wannabe Tory politician, a vow of chastity might seem an attractive option. But Laura Adshead, who became David Cameron’s girlfriend in 1990, has gone further than simply taking a break from relationships — she has become a Benedictine nun, finding salvation in the church.

The Prime Minister met Adshead, a striking blonde, when they were undergraduates at Oxford. But the pair only began a relationship while working at Conservative Party HQ, splitting a year later.

Adshead then moved to the US and pursued a career in advertising, where she developed addictions to drink and drugs. Now a new documentary, God Is the Bigger Elvis, has revealed that she swapped bad habits for a habit (sorry...), joining the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut and becoming Sister John Mary. When Adshead revealed to her family that she was joining a convent, her mother replied: “Yes, I can see this world has no real meaning for you any more.”

But religious vocation does not prevent many nuns today from exerting influence on earth. Goldman Sachs — the Vampire Squid bank whose chief executive Lloyd Blankfein claimed his staff were doing “God’s work” — was taken on during the economic downturn by those actually doing God’s work. Sister Nora Nash of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Philadelphia protested at Goldman’s annual meeting a year ago over excessive executive pay.

Having God on your side seems to foster success too. Madonna Buder, who was born in Missouri and bears the moniker the Iron Nun, has competed in more than 325 triathlons and last year completed an Ironman in under 17 hours. She is 82.

From Hildegard of Bingen in the Middle Ages to the current day, nuns have also called for change within the church. This month, the Holy See censured “feminist” nuns in the US for backing health reforms including controversial rules on abortion and contraception.

And, like the Jesuit motto “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man”, the influence of nuns on many cradle Catholics remains strong. Madonna — formerly the world’s second most famous Roman Catholic — said of her childhood: “I wanted to be a nun. I saw nuns as superstars ... I went to a Catholic school, and the nuns, to me, were these superhuman, beautiful, fantastic people.”

Small wonder many women still want to get in on the ultimate Sister Act.