Tory blogger Tim Montgomerie: ‘I support gay marriage but most traditionalists are not homophobes’

Conservative blogger Tim Montgomerie believes a failure to accommodate the views of “traditionalists” who oppose equal marriage has contributed to the rise of the UK Independence Party.

Mr Montgomerie, who founded ConservativeHome, wrote on the website that “Illiberal liberals” were among “the ten creators of UKIP”.

He said: “I support gay marriage (shamefully, I was resistant to homosexual equality but now have the zeal of a convert) but, but, but I don’t think most traditionalists are homophobes.”

The journalist and political commentator also suggested it was wrong to call UKIP supporters bigots or “racist”.

In May 2012, Mr Montgomerie recorded a video for the Out4Marraige campaign.

He said marriage should be “for gay people as well as for straight people.”

A poll published last month showed support for equal marriage among Conservative and UKIP supporters had increased.

Another poll, commissioned by the anti-gay Coalition for Marriage days before last week’s local and European elections, found that 23% of Tory supporters felt same-sex marriage was a reason not to vote for the party.

Yesterday, UKIP’s newly elected MEP for Scotland claimed same-sex marriage “breeds homophobia” and that civil partnerships “should be enough”.

David Coburn, who is gay and has been in a same-sex relationship for more than 30 years, was elected on Sunday night as his party’s first MEP in Scotland.

UKIP remains opposed to equal marriage.

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