Three and a half thousand English gay couples tie the knot
Figures released by the General Register Office show that over three and half thousand couples formed civil partnerships in England and Wales in the first five weeks since the change in the law.
3,648 couples formed civil partnerships in England and Wales between 21st December 2005 and 31st January 2006. The figures also demonstrate that gay marriage is more popular amongst men (2,150 ceremonies) than women (1,138).
The Civil Partnership Act came into force on 5 December 2005 and enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship. Couples who register a civil partnership have a new
legal status, that of “civil partner”. The first day that couples could form a civil partnership under normal arrangements in England and Wales was 21 December 2005.
Brighton and Hove was the registration authority where most civil partnerships were formed (126). Second most popular was Westminster (121), followed by Kensington and Chelsea (105).
The top 50 regions are listed below together with the number of ceremonies to have taken place in the period under consideration.
1 Brighton Hove 126
2 Westminster 121
3 Kensington Chelsea 105
4 Hampshire 76
5 Kent 75
6 Richmond 71
7 East Sussex 69
8 Devon 66
9 Islington 64
10 West Sussex 62
11 Cornwall 59
12 Bournemouth 57
13 Wandsworth 56
14 Lambeth 55
15 Norfolk 55
16 Camden 53
17 Surrey 52
18 Hertfordshire 51
19 Leeds 51
20 Manchester 51
21 Hammersmith Fulham 50
22 Oxfordshire 50
23 Suffolk 49
24 Birmingham 48
25 Bristol 46
26 Blackpool 45
27 Lancashire 42
28 Southwark 42
29 Cambridgeshire 41
30 Essex 40
31 Northamptonshire 37
32 Croydon 36
33 North Yorkshire 36
34 Staffordshire 36
35 Cheshire 35
36 Derby 33
37 Derbyshire 32
38 Ealing 32
39 Gloucestershire 32
40 Nottinghamshire 32
41 Haringey 31
42 Worcestershire 31
43 Hackney 29
44 Lincolnshire 28
45 Warwickshire 28
46 Lewisham 27
47 Cumbria 26
48 Sheffield 26
49 Somerset 26
50 Tower Hamlets 26
