British Prime Minister David Cameron is
being urged to drop his proposal to legalize gay marriage in Britain
by 2015.
According to the UK's the London
Evening Standard, a large percentage of Conservative Party
members believe Cameron should abandon the proposal.
A ComRes study released on Sunday found
that 71 percent of Tory constituency chairmen oppose the proposal and
41 percent believe the prime minister's support is hurting the party
which he helms.
Colin Hart, campaign director for the
Coalition for Marriage (C4M), which is working to derail the
proposal, said:
“What this latest poll reflects is the growing unease amongst
grassroot Conservatives about the way the PM is trying to force
through this policy without any electoral mandate and without any
acknowledgment of the profound consequences this change will have.”
“If the PM continues to press ahead
with this deeply unpopular, radical and profoundly undemocratic
proposal, then he can expect to pay the price for this at the ballot
box,” Hart added. “The prime minister, who has made a virtue of
ditching unpopular or disastrous policies, cannot ignore the mounting
opposition to redefining marriage. This includes his own
constituency, his own party and increasingly in our country.”
Cameron, however, has shown strong
support for the measure.
(Related: On
eve of Mitt Romney visit, David Cameron reiterates gay marriage
support.)