EXCLUSIVE: 'He's brilliant, disciplined, handsome and witty' - Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch's stepmother breaks his family's silence to tell how she celebrated Trump nomination with champagne and pizza

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The stepmother of President Trump's Supreme Court pick toasted the news of his nomination with champagne and pizza, saying he will do a 'wonderful' job.

Margaret Gorsuch, 83, of Denver, Colorado, has known stepson Neil since he was a teenager, and was married to his lawyer father David until his death 15 years ago.

Gorsuch's parents divorced in 1982 and his mother Anne also went on to remarry rancher Robert Burford. He died in 1993, and Anne passed away of cancer aged just 62 in 2004. 

Margaret told DailyMail.com that she remains close to the 49-year-old and regularly sees the judge and his 'lovely' British wife Marie Louise for lunch and at family gatherings.

The stepmother of President Trump's Supreme Court pick, Margaret Gorsuch, toasted the news of his nomination with champagne and pizza, saying he will do a 'wonderful' job

During Tuesday night's announcement at the White House, President Trump described Neil Gorsuch as 'extraordinary' and 'as good as it gets'. Pictured, Gorsuch in the foreground as his wife, Marie Louise, looks on

Family: Neil Gorsuch was a teenager when his parents divorced and his mother Ann remarried to Robert Burford. She was a controversial political figure as Ronald Reagan's EPA administrator.

Speaking about her stepson, she said: 'He's brilliant, he's disciplined, he's handsome, he's witty - what else do you need to know?

'His wife is the most beautiful British woman, she's lovely. The whole family are very pleased with him.'

Margaret revealed that she watched President Trump's live announcement of his Supreme Court choice on Tuesday evening at her Denver home with friends and said she toasted the news with champagne.

'I found out the same way that everybody else did,' she said. 'I had a few people over, we turned on the television and had champagne at the ready and some pizza. The perfect combo!

'And we were of course thrilled to death when they chose him.'

Asked what sort of Supreme Court justice Gorsuch is likely to be, the proud step-mom said: 'He will be wonderful.

'His record would indicate that he would be consistent with what he's been in the past.'

Gorsuch, whose appointment was welcomed by conservatives, has been described as the ideological heir to Antonin Scalia, who died last February at age 79 during a quail hunting trip in Marfa, Texas.

Heir to Scalia: Gorsuch went fishing with the justice whose sudden death led to his nomination by President Trump. His stepmother said Gorsuch loves the outdoors and especially fishing

Family affair: JJ Gorsuch, the younger brother of the nominee, was on the same fishing trip with Justice Scalia and posted this picture in tribute when the justice died

Scalia's death left the Supreme Court seen as having an even split of liberal and conservative justices , and conservatives such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz are hoping Gorsuch's nomination will tilt the balance in their favor.

During Tuesday night's announcement at the White House, President Trump described Gorsuch as 'extraordinary' and 'as good as it gets'.

He added: 'Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support. It is an extraordinary resume - as good as it gets.'

Despite the plaudits, President Trump is unlikely to find Gorsuch entirely amenable thanks to his track record of voting to rein in executive power.

However, his conservative credentials include consistently backing religious rights and being seen as a Constitutional originalist in the mold of Scalia.

His position on abortion in particular is not known from previous rulings, but he wrote a book on euthanasia and suicide which is likely to be closely studied for hints of how he is likely to lean. 

Home: The Gorsuch family live on a private gated estate close to Boulder, Colorado. Gorsuch and his British-born wife Louise have two teenage daughters

Worship: The family are members of St John's Episcopal Church in Boulder, where both of Gorsuch and his wife Louise's daughters have been acolytes

Gorsuch now faces a fight to have his nomination confirmed by the Senate, with Democrats describing his appointment as 'stolen' and insisting that President Obama should have been allowed to choose Scalia's replacement.

But Margaret said she was pleased by the nomination regardless of the difficulties he will inevitably.

She reminisced about the 'wonderful' boy and the family holidays they once shared.

'He was just wonderful,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Of course he was living back in Washington [D.C] when he was a teenager but he would come back for Christmas and Easter.

'We'd go up to the cabin and we'd all be fishing or something like that. We had that kind of very fun times. He is very outdoorsy – he loved those British [fishing] streams when he was living there.

'We were over there [the UK] for his wedding, which was very nice.'

Gorsuch married his wife Louise in her home town of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.

She was brought on a farm just outside the town - which itself is known for its annual voting regatta - by her parents Bryan and Prudence Burletson.

Burletson, a retired property developer, declined to comment on his son-in-law's potential elevation.

The family are close despite the distance they live from each other, and Gorsuch thanked his parents-in-law for their support in the foreword to his book on suicide and euthanasia.

His wife was educated at St Mary's School, Wantage, a private boarding school run by Anglican nuns which closed in 2007. 

Dreaming spires: Gorsuch, met his wife while he studied for a D.Phil - the equivalent of a PhD - at University College, Oxford. The college was founded in 1249 and has a claim to be the oldest constituent part of the university. Its alumni include President Clinton

Magnificent surroundings: Gorsuch's wife Louise Burletson was a student at Christ Church College, Oxford, when they first met. Its alumni include 13 British prime ministers, the Winkelvoss twins who played a part in founding Facebook, and the author of Alice in Wonderland

Its alumnae include Viscountess Linley, the wife of Viscount Linley, whose mother Princess Margaret was Queen Elizabeth's sister, and Lady Helen Taylor, who is a first cousin of the Queen.

Her parents told The Daily Telegraph that the family was 'thrilled but terrified' at the nomination.

They had celebrated the move with champagne and his mother-in-law said: 'There’s going to be blood on the carpet but that’s politics I suppose. So I’m thrilled but I’m a bit apprehensive.'

The couple met as Gorsuch studied for a D.Phil - the equivalent of a PhD - at Oxford University, to which he had won a Marshall scholarship while at Harvard Law School, where he was a contemporary of President Obama.

He was a student at University College, Oxford, whose famous alumni include President Clinton, who was a Rhodes Scholar, and Chelsea Clinton, who was not a Rhodes Scholar but who gained a master's degree there.

While studying Gorsuch briefly met Louise Burletson when she was a postgraduate business studies student at Christ Church College, at a party.

However she moved to work in London and Gorsuch got her number from a friend, then called her and asked her for a date. The couple married a year later and now have two teenage daughters.

The family are Episcopalian and worship at St John's in Boulder, near their home on a private gated estate. THeir daughters have been acolytes at the church.

If confirmed, Gorsuch would become the only Protestant on the bench.

The rest of the justices are either Catholic or Jewish and John Paul Stevens was the last Protestant on the bench. 

The court will, however, remain majority Catholic because five of the existing eight justices are Catholic.