U.K. Conservatives Tout Gay Candidates

Is the Tories really do intend true representation of the population why is it limiiting representation to sexuality and race? Shouldn't they also be seeking to ensure that religous views are represented in a similar way - it that there is a representatife number of Christians, Jews, Mulsims, Hindis etc in parliament?

Paschal - you have no idea what you are talking about. Margaret Thatcher made a nation of homeowners when she sold off council houses to the occupants, and a nation of stock holders when she sold off the nationalized industries. Her biggest problem was being a "Bitch" - a term often used to describe strong women. Sure, she made mistakes - didn't Tony Blair make a mistake taking the UK into Iraq? Didn't Gordon Brown make mistakes when he spent money recklessly for social policies that didn't work. Tell me truthfully - is the NHS better off now? And as for David Cameron and the Tories "changing" for political reasons. Tell me why Tony Blair had to remake Labour into "New Labour" in order to win election? And how did he do it? By promising not to reverse the policies of the previous Tory government, and not kowtowing to the unions. If it was for Mrs Thatcher and the Tories, I dread to think where Britain would be today!!!!

Margaret Thatcher's policies focused on making the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. She loved businessmen while ignoring the needs of the less well off. She didn't realise that a government should look out for those less fortunate while also encouraging economic growth. She was also an ignorant bitch when it came to Northern Ireland. She was a strong women, however, I'll give her that. She probably still is.

As an ex-pat, I can hardly wait for the Tories to win the next election and get rid of Labour. It's Labour policies that have exacerbated the current recession, and they will only make it worse if they win re-election. And if "New" Labour can change their minds and opinions, why can't the Tories? Anyone who studies history will know that Tony Blair co-opted many Tory policies and positions in order to win power. What we see now is a Labour party returning to its Socialist roots. And if you want to know what that is like, just reseach the 1979 Winter of Discontent when we had four-day work weeks, rolling power outages, and sky-high inflation. For all her faults, Margaret Thatcher put Britain on a path of economic recovery that still reverberates today. And who can forget all the new homeonwers created from her policy of selling government-owned housing? Labour has done some things right, but only by "stealing" other peoples ideas!

One of U.K.'s Conservatives Party members said, "A successful political party ought to look like the country it seeks to govern". That's what is wrong with the Conservative Republican party in the U.S.A. They all look alike, think alike, smile alike, lie alike...........

They all look like QUEENS to me. Like we already didn't know. LOL!

This appears to be all well and good, but how do they vote on issues important to the gay community? I am all for fiscal conservatism to a point, but not if it costs me my liberty and freedom as a gay person. That always trumps my choice.

Look t their eyes. Why do most of them look like they are getting goosed?

The turnaround on gay issues of the Conservative Party in Great Britain is a truly exciting development. How refreshing it would be if the Republican Party would denounce homophobia. I would still probably vote Democratic because I tend to be liberal on issues other than gay rights, but at least that would make it possible to consider the possibility of voting Republican. Any glbtq person who would for a Republican these days has to be a masochist.

This is very entertaining to watch. Even though David Cameron's motives may be rather cynical, he's facing a tight election and needs every vote he can beg, borrow or steal, at least he's putting something on the table by actually running openly gays candidates at all. In contrast, here in the U.S. were have only three openly gay Representatives in the House and no gay Senators at all. The Democrats try their best to downplay LGBT issues and certainly have an abysmal community outreach. Meanwhile, the Republicans hate gays and aren't shy about hiding that fact. On the U.K. front the main issue that Labour faces is that they're led by Gordon Brown, who's rather like Barack Obama when it comes to LGBT rights issues. Labour is still trading mostly on goodwill leftover from the Blair years. Cameron could very likely steal a big chunk of the gay vote even with his dubious record.