PinkNews.co.uk poll: Gay support drops dramatically for Tories

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An exclusive PinkNews.co.uk survey of more than 600 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans readers has found that support has plummeted for the Conservative Party.

In the week that the first Conservative Conference Pride was held, our poll found that only 22 per cent of respondents would vote Tory if there was a general election tomorrow, compared to 36 per cent who said they would vote Labour. Twenty-five per cent said they would vote Liberal Democrat.

The results are a reversal of a similar poll we conducted in June, ahead of the European Elections. Then, we found that 39 per cent would vote Tory in a general election, compared to 29 per cent who said they would Labour.

Our June poll showed for voting in the European Elections, 28 per cent said they would vote for the Green Party, 23 per cent said Conservative and 20 per cent said Labour.

We also asked our readers if they thought the Conservative Party was homophobic. More than two-thirds (67 per cent) said it was, while 23 per cent said it was not. Ten per cent were unsure.

In June, a similar number said the party had not changed since the days of Section 28. Then, 63 per cent said the party was still homophobic, while 37 per cent said it was not.

This week, Tory leader David Cameron invited Polish MEP Michal Kaminski, who has been accused of homophobia, to speak at the party’s annual conference.

Stonewall chief Ben Summerskill boycotted a gay Tory event in protest over the invitation, describing Kaminski’s views as “extreme and offensive”. Kaminski, who is the president of the Tories’ new European bloc, has denied being homophobic but admits he is not in favour of gay marriage and gay adoption.

Our poll asked readers whether they thought Cameron was wrong to share a platform with Kaminski. An overwhelming majority (81 per cent) said they thought he was. Only 16 per cent thought the invitation was not wrong.

Summerskill’s decision to boycott Conference Pride over Kaminski’s invitation led to gay Tory activists booing him at a Stonewall fringe event. However, 55 per cent of our readers said he was correct to withdraw from the event, compared to 37 per cent who said he was not.

Although Gordon Brown’s leadership has taken a battering in recent months, he is still the top choice for PinkNews.co.uk readers to lead the Labour Party. Nineteen per cent said they would like him to lead the party if there was an election tomorrow.

However, David Miliband was not far behind with 17 per cent.

Interestingly, Peter Mandelson, who is openly gay, came in at third place with 14 per cent of the vote. Mandelson, who has twice been forced to resign from parliament, cannot currently hold the position of prime minister. However, he could assume if the role if he were to return to the House of Commons or if a Constitutional Arrangement were made.

Equalities minister Harriet Harman got 11 per cent of the vote, while openly gay culture secretary Ben Bradshaw was on four per cent.

PinkNews.co.uk surveyed 603 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans readers between 4pm yesterday and 2pm today. All respondents who described themselves as straight were eliminated from the survey.

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