David Cameron

I think partly he wanted to demonstrate that the Tory party is not packed with a bunch of out-of-date old fogeys – which is exactly the opposite of what he has demonstrated.

Yes I've been extremely perplexed about why he nailed his colours to this paticular mast. Whatever his motives, as absent says, he's failed and there are many battles ahead as the bill goes through all its stages which will stir everything up again. It's a gift for the right of his party who want him gone. Do you think that perhaps it is just another example of poor judgement?

Probably, Bluebell!

I am not a fan of Cameron's judgement when it comes to people. Coulsongate. Brooksgate. Mitchell-gate
But I am not sure that he is wrong about this. His eye is on the voters not the old guard party activists. He can see that the support for his party is ageing rapidly. He will have commissioned focus groups with voters.
The C of E is not the power that it was.
And - there are a lot of gay MPs. Ours is.

Jess I think it is kind of you to attribute so much thought and concern to him but not sure I agree! I think he has put his foot right in it and could end up with a vote of no confidence. There are others just waiting in the wings to take his job. Of course he could just be thinking of the good of the country and not himself

I think he just saw it as a way of making him and his vision of the Conservatives look a bit more socially relevant.

Why can't he believe in Gay Marriage? Because he's a Conservative?

I think he must have known how problamatic this would be so surely it took guts to go ahead with it.

Why didn't the last government put forward the Bill?, because they too new it would be problamatic but given all bar 27 Labour MP's voted for it and they had the majority at the time they were in government they could have carried it through.

Oh POGs, I think I am past believing that most PMs actually believe in anything. I met one MP once, a lovely chap who did a lot for the constituency I lived in and I felt he was actually a decent human being. He ended up leaving politics to do some even more direct good, but to be honest I am very jaded about the rest.

Be fair Pogs - they put through the civil
Partnership law and you can see that that would need time to be accepted. We had to wait for a Labour Govt to decriminalise homosexuality and reform abortion and divorce laws. Its generally fair to say that the average Conservative is economically but not socially liberal

And the shame of Thatchet and section 28 should never be forgotten!!

Think perhaps that I should add that on a personal level I have no problem believing that David Cameron is not homophobic in any way - I just get the impression that his very obvious keeness to push this through despite what a lot of his party wanted, was a political move.

I am being totally fair. I am talking about the question of gay marriage and DC's connection as to why he put the Bill forward.

I agree L abour did put Civil Partnership through, brilliant. I made the point about gay wedding as per the OP.

If homosexuality was an issue in the conservative party now, why the hell are there so many gay MP.'s. in the party? Stop harking back decades I say, this is 2013.

A lot of them did go to all male boarding schools so I don't suppose they found homosexuality shocking.
Surveys showed that more than half of UK voters were in favour of the bill, so he was being quite pragmatic. Gay civil partnerships seem to arouse less hostility after a couple of years, and he has until 2015 for the new law to become more acceptable to the old guard. Blair did the same with the hunting law.

Greatnan your analogy with Blair's hunting bill is spot on!

Equally puzzling though, as neither topics were top of the public agenda.

But to continue on my theme of puzzlement .... anti-hunting could well be seen as in Labour's camp, whereas being pro-gay marriage is hardly associated with the Tory party.

Cameron is to be admired for his stance, but I still don't understand why he chose this particular topic to prove his credentials!

It will be interesting, once the committee stage etc has passed, to see what the House of Lords does with it. Because it wasn't in the Conservatives' manifesto, was it? (I don't think it was!)

Neither were the NHS reforms ariadne

Just best me to it JessM .

Sorry but if the NHS is reformed I for one will be glad. Before anyone starts, if it is a cock up I will be the first to say so but so far my experience of the NHS shows it is improving all for the better where I live. This is not partisan politics for me, just pure and simple my experience of the NHS.

I'm surprised to see that Gordon Brown abstained - not voting always strikes me as a cowardly act.

He's hardly voted on anything since he left. Still claims huge expenses though...

Wasn't legalising gay marriage in the Conservative manifesto? And isn't it just for civil and not religious marriages?

I dont think it was NFk, thats why commentators questioned why he was so keen on it.

One thing I am curious about- one of the grounds for divorce is non-consummation of marriage. Is the law going to be changed to re-define what 'consummation' actually is?

I don't think I wish to know that!