Conservative party leader David Cameron appeared to forget a planned reference to gay people in his first speech of the general election season Tuesday morning. The nod had been intended to shore up plunging support for Tories among gay voters.

According to the UK edition of Metro, “The original text of this morning's speech, which had been circulated to journalists before he gave it, included the sentence: 'We're fighting this election for the Great Ignored – young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight.'

But when he gave the speech — which he delivered without an autocue — Mr Cameron appeared to forget several of those categories, instead describing the 'Great Ignored' by saying: 'They may be black or white, they may be rich or poor, they may live in the town or country.'”

The gay reference in the campaign kick-off speech had been widely anticipated after weeks of perceived Conservative missteps toward the gay community, the latest being a weekend comment from Conservative MP Chris Grayling that privately owned bed and breakfasts should be allowed to discriminate against gay couples.

According to UK gay news source Pink News, support for the Conservative party among gay voters has fallen 5% in the past month.