Senior Tories Call For Gay Marriage Delay

Senior members of local Conservative organisations are urging David Cameron to delay the implementation of gay marriage until after the next general election.

The plea from some Tories on the issue comes ahead of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill being voted on by the House of Commons on Tuesday. Some Tories want the vote delayed until after the next general election believing the Conservative party will likely lose some support over gay marriage. Their fears come despite opinion polls which have repeatedly put public support for gay marriage as being in the majority.

The issue of same-sex marriage unites people of across the political spectrum on both sides of the debate. Not all of the MPs who oppose gay marriage as Conservative; a number are also Labour as well. Equally not all of those in favour of gay marriage are Labour or Liberal Democrat MPs; a large number Conservatives are in favour including high profile figures such as Theresa May and Michael Gove.

However, support from high profile Tory Ministers has not eased the fears of local conservatives and more than 20 current & former constituency chairmen have delivered a letter 10 Downing Street warning of “significant damage to the Conservative Party in the run up to the 2015 election” if gay marriage becomes legal. Many would argue that the coalition government’s failure to tackle the economy and implementing savage public sector cuts which have made the economic situation worse would cause more damage to the party – at the next election – than whether it introduced gay marriage or not.

Meanwhile media reports vary on how many Conservative MPs are likely to vote against the Government over gay marriage. Reports over the week have suggested around 150 will vote against gay marriage while some claim the actual number will be much lower. An article in the Sunday Telegraph places the number at 180 and also claims four members of the cabinet will be voting no to gay marriage. However, some media outlets are claiming MPs will abstain rather than vote no over fears of a backlash from voters on the issue.