David Cameron thinks pushing through gay marriage was the worst political decision of his premiership, according to a cabinet minister.
The Prime Minister says he still supports the principle of gay marriage, but pushing it through Parliament was a “terrible” political mistake.
Mr Cameron was speaking at a private meeting of senior constituency officials at the Conservative Party Conference.
Challenged
One local chairman who was at the meeting told the Daily Mail: “Cameron was repeatedly and often forcefully challenged over gay marriage. He said he still believed that gay marriage was right but regretted the way he had forced it through Parliament.”
“He was effectively saying he wished he had left it well alone. We wished he had too.”
A cabinet minister, who was at the conference, said: “It’s true he wishes he had never done it. He has been saying this is the biggest political mistake of his premiership because he totally underestimated the trouble it would cause.”
Equality
“There’s no doubt Cameron genuinely believes in the policy and passionately believes in equality in marriage. But he regrets the unhappiness and dissent it has caused among his MPs and the voluntary party.”
According to the Daily Mail, the Prime Minister was politely applauded when he revealed his regret over the policy at the meeting.
Another constituency chairman said: “We told him that we were losing good members to Ukip over gay marriage which was when he did his mea culpa.”
Damage
“The trouble is the damage is already done as I’ve lost dozens of members from my association.”
At the weekend, it was revealed that David Cameron confided in an ally that he wouldn’t have pushed through gay marriage if he had known what the reaction would be.
He now denies regretting the legislation, saying he admits he didn’t expect such a “furore” but is passionate about marriage and thinks it should be available to “people who are gay as well as those of us who aren’t”.