Former London MP says sorry for 'getting it so wrong' on same sex marriage

Former London MP Sarah Teather has said sorry for 'getting it wrong' by voting against the Bill on same sex marriage.

In 2013 the government's controversial legislation allowing same sex couples to marry in England and Wales became law.

While the main political parties backed the proposals members were given a free vote which meant they would not be whipped to vote for or against the legislation.

Writing on Twitter, the former MP for Brent East said: "I tied myself up in ridiculous intellectual knots trying to find a way to navigate Catholic teaching on marriage and my liberal instincts and campaigning history on gay rights. In the end, I voted against the bill."

"Wise friends said to me then it didn’t fit with what they knew of me and I would regret it. They were right. In the years since as friends and acquaintances have got engaged and married I have inwardly cheered and thanked God that I was then in an irrelevant minority.

"I think this anniversary is a good time to say more publicly that I was wrong then and I am delighted now that gay people have the right to be married. And I am sorry that I got it so wrong."

Despite strong opposition the Commons voted in favour of same sex marriage with a majority of 225. Next week marks eight years since the Bill became law.

At the time Tory activists attacked the then Prime Minister David Cameron's support for same sex marriage, claiming it had made winning the next general election "virtually impossible".

In a letter, more than 30 present and former local party chairmen warned Mr Cameron's backing for a change in the law led to voters switching support to other parties.

They wrote that many of the lost supporters would not return unless legislation for gay marriages was abandoned "or the party leadership changed".