Tories divided as gay marriage bill passes

British prime minister David Cameron got his way as gay marriage legislation cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons last night — but saw his party split down the middle.

After Cameron’s last-ditch appeal for support, the house backed the proposals by 400 votes to 175.

However, with Labour and Liberal Democrats strongly in favour of the proposal, it was clear that scores of Tories had taken advantage of the free vote to register their opposition.