Conservatives Reveal List of Gay Candidates

March 10, 2010

The Conservative party has published a list of 11 out gay candidates for the upcoming election, with a handful thus far slated for victory.

The Mail on Sunday received the list of the 11 candidates from Tory MP Nick Herbert. A previous list of women and minorities was already published.
 

The Tories claim 20 gay candidates are vying for election seats, although 11 were happy to be named on the list. The other 9 said they would be happy too as well, despite requesting their names not be published.
 

Only one female candidate, Margot James of Stourbridge, is on the list. If she wins, she joins pensions minister Angela Eagle as the only other lesbian in parliament. If the Tories pull through in the upcoming election, their gay MP numbers could top that of the Labour party.

In winnable seats:
 

Margot James, 52, Stourbridge
David Gold, 37, Eltham
Nick Boles, 44, Grantham
Iain Stewart, 27, Milton Keynes South
Mark Coote, 49, Cheltenham
Less likely to win:
Nick King, 44, Mid Dorset and North Poole
Matthew Sephton, 34, Salford and Eccles
Simon Nayyar, 42, Hackney South and Shoreditch
 

Speaking to an audience in Washington last month, Herbert said the Tories have altered their stance on gay rights and homosexuality.

“A successful political party should be open to all and ought to look something like the country it seeks to govern.
 

“In recent history the Conservative Party in parliament reflected only a section of our society – male, white, professional, grey-suited and straight.

“At the last election, of our 193 MPs elected, just 17 were women, only two black or minority ethnic and two were openly gay.

“If we were truly representative of the country we would have 99 women, 16 black or minority ethnic and ten gay MPs.”

Image Source: LGB Tory