The Christian Institute 1 Mar 2013
The controversial push to redefine marriage is one of the reasons the Conservatives came third in yesterday’s important by-election, critics say.
Same-sex marriage is ‘drastically unpopular’ with activists and supporters, “who have been less inclined to get out and campaign on the streets because of it”, one Tory MP said.
And the result – which saw UKIP beat the Tories into third – was described as a “humiliating defeat for David Cameron’s ‘modernising’ agenda”, by one commentator.
UKIP’s leader Nigel Farage said the Conservatives had failed because of Mr Cameron’s determination on un-Conservative issues like gay marriage.
And the Telegraph’s political editor Robert Winnett listed the issue as one of the decisions which has “antagonised those who should be traditional Tory supporters”.
Thursday’s by-election in the Hampshire town of Eastleigh was won by Mike Thornton of the Lib Dems, with UKIP’s Diane James second and Maria Hutchings third.
It led to Tory MP Stewart Jackson commenting: “This is the price that has to be paid for gay marriage because of the drastic unpopularity of it with activists and supporters, who have been less inclined to get out and campaign on the streets because of it.
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/crisis-for-cameron-as-gay-marriage-row-aids-tory-defeat/
