Conservatives Set To Lose Brighton Seat Over Gay Marriage

The Conservatives look set to lose Brighton Kemptown, long considered the heart of the British gay community, over their support for same-sex marriage. A senior activist in Kemptown told Breitbart London that whilst the policy had angered many traditionalists in the area it has attracted no additional support from the gay community.

He said: “Although Kemptown is thought of as the Israel of the gay community there are a lot of rural areas outside of the town that are unhappy with gay marriage. They are shifting towards other parties, and no matter what David Cameron tells us his policies are not bringing in the metropolitan liberals he had hoped for.

“It would be unbelievable for the party that brought in gay marriage to pay for it by losing Kemptown but I’m afraid that is what’s going to happen.” The Conservative Simon Kirby took Kemptown with a majority of just 1,328 in 2010 off Labour.

The seat is home to a number of districts that have very large gay communities including Queen’s Park and Kemptown itself. However, it also includes the much more traditional Tory town of Peacehaven, where many voters are thought to be toying with UKIP as a result of their anger at David Cameron.

A source at the Coalition for Marriage told Breitbart London that the group plan to encourage their supporters to vote for “anyone other than the Conservatives”. The group, which is made up of Christians who object to gay marriage, claims to have 1,500 members who voted Conservative in Kemptown in 2010.

If the prediction by the Coalition for Marriage is correct Mr Kirby would lose the seat because of their intervention alone. But the group say they have their eyes on twenty to thirty Tory seats were their membership is bigger than the Tory majority. The source said the group would not back any party but expected that many of the former Conservatives would switch to UKIP.

The gay community are expected to vote for either the Labour of Green candidates, meaning that Kirby will receive no credit at all for his support for the bill. The MP not only voted in favour of gay marriage but even sent a wedding gift to the first couple from Brighton who used the legislation to tie the knot.

Kemptown is one of three seats in the City of Brighton and Hove, two of which are Conservative. Caroline Lucas holds the other as the only Green MP in Parliament.