Times: Tory voters put off by ‘gay marriage’

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130502/world/Tory-voters-put-off-by-gay-marriage-.468045
Thursday, May 2, 2013 by AP

One in four Conservative voters are more likely to back other parties in this week’s local elections because of Tory support for gay marriage, according to a new Britsh poll.

A ComRes survey of voters in today’s elections found 26 per cent of people who voted Conservative in the 2010 general election are less likely to do so because of plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

Just nine per cent said they were more likely to vote for David Cameron’s party.

The survey, carried out for the Coalition for Marriage, also says that one in four Conservative 2010 voters is voting Ukip today.

The campaign’s director, Colin Hart, said the poll shows “ripping up the current definition of marriage is a real turn off” for voters and that the poll is a “real blow for the PM”.

Mr Hart said: “The Prime Minister has consistently backed the proposed changes to redefine marriage as part of the so called decontamination strategy, but it has not worked.

“Every section of the electorate are highly sceptical about his motives, believing he is pushing this policy in a cynical attempt to make his party look trendy and progressive. This is the ultimate failure of Blairite triangulation policy.

“As Lady Thatcher famously said, ‘If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time and you would ach-ieve nothing’.”

The poll also claimed that bitter attacks on Ukip over the weekend, including Cabinet minister Ken Clarke describing the party as “clowns”, have boosted support for Nigel Farage’s eurosceptics by nearly five points.

ComRes interviewed 1,502 adults in areas of England where local elections are taking place today. They were conducted online between April 24 and April 28.