MPs have passed the marriage equality bill in the House of Commons with 400 votes for and 175 against. Prime Minister David Cameron said the approval was an important step forward.

The move comes following a final push today to convince Conservative Party members to back Mr Cameron’s plans for marriage equality. A number of conservative MPs voted against the bill. The legislation will now go on to be examined in more detail.

Despite a number of religious groups opposing the legislation, religious communities and small denominations such as Quakers and the Unitarian Church backed the bill.

The vote was a free vote, with MPs deciding for themselves as opposed to following party orders. The bill proposes to allow same sex marriage in 2014 in England and Wales and also allow civil partnerships to be converted to “full marriage”.

There were comparisons made between the Conservative Party and the Republican Party in America, with MP Margot James warning that failure to embrace social reform could cost them votes.

I believe my party should never flinch from the requirement that we must continue this progression, otherwise we may end up like the Republican party who lost an election last year that they could have won were it not for their socially conservative agenda.

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