Newt Gingrich 'bought off' his wife with jewellery worth $1million to stay in the race

Newt Gingrich spent $1 million on jewellery to 'buy off' his reluctant wife and stop her objecting to his running for president, a new book claims

Newt Gingrich spent $1 million on jewellery to 'buy off' his reluctant wife and stop her objecting to his running for president, a new book claims.

The e-book on the 2012 election says the Republican candidate took his wife Callista on an ill-timed luxury cruise to Greece and showered her with gifts from Tiffany's in efforts to get her onside.

The claims come after revelations in May that Gingrich's once owed the Tiffany's jewellery store as much as $500,000.

Election 2012: The Battle Begins' does not identify any sources behind the latest claims and the Gingrich campaign have quickly dismissed them, reports the Huffington Post.

Several of Gingrich's former top campaign advisers now work for his rival candidate Rick Perry.

The book, from Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan and Carl Cannon, raises the question of whether Gingrich's former aides were in discussions with Perry before they left him in June. An accusation they deny, reports The Post.

In the e-book the resentment expressed for Mrs Gingrich and the lengths to which Gingrich's former aides go to criticise his wife reaches new heights, according to The Post.

Mrs Gingrich is a woman 22 years his junior, whom he wed after a six year extra-marital affair.

She's the single worst influence on a candidate I've ever seen,' one 'campaign strategist' is reported to have told Bevan and Cannon.

The same source said that Gingrich bought 'a necklace reportedly worth six figures ... to 'buy Callista off' so she'd acquiesce to a presidential run.

Gingrich's ex-aides said that the former House Speaker from Georgia ignored their advice not to go on a luxury cruise to the Greek islands in late May because he feared damage to, or even the loss of, his marriage to his third wife.

'In Newt's mind, it was the cruise or his marriage. And he didn't want to get married a fourth time,' said a source identified in the book as 'a person with knowledge of the discussions'.

On May 28, just days after Perry announced his thoughts of running for president, Gingrich went against his advisers and went on he cruise.

On June 9, his aides resigned.

Carney is quoted as saying his departure from Gingrich was 'totally unrelated' to his decision to join Perry's campaign.

The book comes as Gingrich is rising in the polls - on the back of a series of strong debate performances - as the potential top alternative to Romney.

Gingrich's success can be attributed to Perry's collapse over the last six weeks.

His campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond, told The Post: 'My hunch is this story will have a happy ending.'

The e-book is the first such publication of the 2012 campaign.

It was released on Friday for $2.99 by Crown Publishing, and will be followed by two more installments.

A hardcover print book about the entire election will be released in early 2013 after the election concludes.