PinkNews deputy editor gets engaged at inaugural PinkNews Awards in House of Commons
The deputy editor of PinkNews proposed to his partner at the website’s awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament tonight, and was congratulated by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
The accepted marriage proposal was celebrated in speeches by politicians attending the event, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, and Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Joseph Patrick McCormick proposed to his partner, James Hanson, at the PinkNews awards in Speaker’s House on 23 October.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was receiving an award, congratulated the newly engaged couple in his acceptance speech for the special award for party leaders, and said the event was testament to the equal marriage bill for England and Wales which received Royal Assent this year.
Mr Clegg said: “James, Joseph, Brilliant that you should be able to propose, and have your proposal for marriage accepted in such.”
Comparing the proposal to his own, but noting the “lavish” setting, Mr Clegg said: “I think back to when I proposed to Miriam fifteen years ago, it was when we were standing alone on a windy rural railway station platform in Lincoln, on our way to Sleaford.”
The couple also received congratulations from Yvette Cooper, who, along with Baroness Stowell of Beeston, was one of the winners of the ‘Politician of the Year’ category in the awards.
Ms Cooper was honoured for her ongoing support for equal marriage, including her powerful address to the House of Commons on the eve of its passing the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bil on its third reading.
John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons and host of the awards, also noted the landmark engagement in his speech to the crowd.
The PinkNews Awards event was generously supported by:-
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