UK Conservatives Tout Gay Candidates

The U.K.'s Conservative Party, to show its inclusiveness, released the names of some of its gay members running for office.

Out of the 20 openly gay candidates, 11 told party chiefs they were "happy" to be named in the first official list of gay Conservatives, according to London's Mail on Sunday.

There are currently only three openly gay Conservatives, or Tories, in parliament: Greg Barker, Alan Duncan, and Nick Herbert. However, Shadow Minister Herbert said that if his party wins the upcoming general election, up to 15 openly gay Conservative MPs could end up in office.

The party also released similar lists to show its racial diversity and its inclusion of women.

"A successful political party ought to look like the country it seeks to govern," Herbert said. "If we were truly representative, we would have 99 women, 16 black or ethnic minority, and 10 gay MPs."