Gay MP to have first civil partnership in parliament tomorrow

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An MP will become the first to have a civil partnership in parliament tomorrow.

Chris Bryant, a foreign office minister and the MP for Rhondda, is to tie the knot with his partner Jarred Cranney in a ceremony held in the MPs’ dining room, which overlooks the Thames.

They met in 2008 while Mr Bryant was campaigning in Soho with former London mayor Ken Livingstone.

The couple are the first to take advantage of changes around who can marry in the historic grounds, Previously, MPs, peers or their children could hold their ceremonies in parliament and the venue did not hold a civil partnership licence.

Mr Bryant told PinkNews.co.uk last month that he had invited prime minister Gordon Brown to next month’s ceremony, although he did not yet know whether Mr Brown would be able to attend.

But PinkNews.co.uk understands that the prime minister will not be in the capital tomorrow.

The couple cannot marry in the Chapel of St Mary in parliament as religious venues cannot currently be used for civil partnership registrations or civil marriages.

The change to allow civil partnerships in parliament was spearheaded by Speaker John Bercow, while Mr Brown also gave his support to the move.