County MPs were split over plans to legalise gay marriage during a Commons debate that exposed the depth of the divide in the Tory party.
The Commons voted by 400 to 175, majority 225, to give the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill a second reading.
Michael Ellis, MP for Northampton North, Chris Heaton-Harris, MP for Daventry and Andy Sawford, MP for Corby, all voted in favour of the proposal.
Philip Hollobone, MP for Kettering, and Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough all voted against the proposal.
Andrea Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire, voted in both division lobbies, the traditional way of registering an abstention.
Brian Binley, MP for Northampton South, did not vote due to health reasons but indicated he would have voted against the proposal.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said the legislation for England and Wales would create a “fairer place to live” but insisted that religions which objected to the plans would not be forced to conduct same-sex ceremonies.
She claimed it was “simply inconceivable” that the European Court of Human Rights would unpick the Government’s “quadruple lock” aimed at protecting religions who did not wish to opt-in to the proposals.
In a late intervention just two hours before MPs voted, the Prime Minister made a televised statement to say the move was about “making our society stronger”.
But the debate heard from a number of prominent Tory critics of the proposals who argued they undermined marriage, would alienate voters and could damage the party’s election prospects.
There was a rebellion on the whipped vote for the Bill’s timetable, but the Government’s programme motion was passed by 499 votes to 55, majority 444.
 |  |