THE TELEGRAPH: Support for the Tories among the gay community has fallen sharply after the row about turning away gay couples from bed and breakfast establishments.
Chris Grayling, the shadow Home secretary, was under fire at the weekend after it emerged that he had said bed and breakfasts run by Christians should be allowed to turn away gay couples because of their sexuality.
A poll conducted by the website PinkNews.co.uk found that support for the Conservative party had “fallen markedly” among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers after the comments.
It found that just 20 per cent in a survey of 1,193 gay men and women would vote Conservative at the next general election, down from 25 per cent last month.
In the poll support for Labour remained unchanged at 28 per cent, while support for the Liberal Democrats increased by 5 per cent to 29 per cent.
The survey also found that 30 per cent of its readers felt “less favourably” towards Mr Cameron following an interview in which he was unable to answer questions about the decision to give MPs and peers a free vote issues relating to gay rights.
A spokesman for PinkNews.co.uk said: "Just one difficult interview has[,] it appears[,] seen a significant drop in the support that the Conservative party and Mr Cameron in particular has enjoyed within the gay community." >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010
