New Zealand Prime Minister “Too Gay”, says Conservative leader

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The Prime Minister of New Zealand has been mentioned in a pamphlet sent out by an opposing political party, saying that people are disgruntled about his vote in favour of an equal marriage bill currently being debated in parliament.

A newsletter sent by Conservative Party leader, Colin Craig, said that residents of Helensville were annoyed that Prime Minister, John Key, of the National Party, had offered his support for New Zealand’s equal marriage bill without asking their opinions first.

On Wednesday,The New Zealand Marriage Amendment Bill, which would legalise equal marriage, passed its first reading with a majority of 80 to 40 in parliament in support of the change.

The pamphlet, sent to 20,000 addresses by the Conservative party, was reportedly accompanied by a signed letter from Mr Craig, and contained a message from a resident of the electorate saying:

“Colin, you should stand [for Prime Minister] here because John Key is too gay for Helensville.”

Mr Key responded to the newsletter by saying: “I wish him the best but I have got the largest majority in the country so I hope I can continue to enjoy the support of the good people of Helensville in 2014.”

He said that he wasn’t aware of any issue with his vote in favour of the bill, and said :”To the best of my knowledge, there’s probably been about three phone calls to my electoral office.”

Mr Craig also made a statement, saying:

“MPs have a duty to represent their electorate but John Key has chosen to ignore the views of the people of Helensville and carry on regardless.

“I was in the town a few weeks ago and was surprised at how many people were annoyed that he is not listening to them.

“There are people out there who simply don’t like to see their prime minister doing things like dancing on stage with transvestites, as he has done in the past,”

The Conservative party was founded in 2011, and Craig, who polled third in the Mayoral election in 2010, ran in the election the same year, but the party failed to gain any electorates.

Since the bill passed its first stage in parliament, a majority of New Zealand churches have said that they will not officiate same-sex marriages.