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Labour is losing the pink vote to us, says out gay Conservative MP
Nick Herbert, (gay, Tory) MP
Tories gay as anything - shock claim
In an article written for the Guardian, openly gay Conservative shadow cabinet minister Nick Herbert has rejected Labour's "shrill outbursts" that a future Tory government will reverse the progression of gay equality, and cites an opinion poll that found that 38% of gay men intend to vote for his party at the next election - a 14.2% swing away from Labour.
Labour's culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, has said that "a deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches" and Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant warned that "if gays vote Tory they will rue the day very soon."
Herbert claims that the Conservatives have changed, with its two openly gay shadow cabinet ministers (the other being Alan Duncan) and the party fielding openly gay candidates in winnable seats throughout the country, and cites David Cameron's appearance at a Pride-supporting Conservative event recently in which he apologised for his party's introduction of section 28 as further evidence. He also attacks the Bishop of Rochester's recent remark that gays should "change and repent."
He accuses Bryant and Angela Eagle of lying about the Conservative's 'opposition' to the new offence of inciting gay hatred, he himself having led for his party in the Commons in support of the legislation. These and other tactics are evidence of a Labour party that "cannot comprehend that gay people might be as repelled by the government as everyone else. So now it resorts to pitiful efforts to scare them."
