PM facing revolt on gay marriage

The letter was the latest sign of division in the party on a weekend which saw former Foreign Secretary Lord Howe claim the Prime Minister is losing control of his party and an ally of Mr Cameron’s quoted as describing grassroots activists as “swivel-eyed loons”.

The Bill that will make same-sex marriage legal is due to be debated by MPs today and the issue has been championed by Mr Cameron.

But critics within the party argue that the Prime Minister has alienated many of its members by taking such a strong stance and is driving them into the arms of Ukip.

The letter was signed by Janet MacDonald and Peter Steveney, chairmen of the Scarborough and Whitby and Thirsk and Malton Conservative Associations, as well as Kirklees councillor Christine Smith, a former chairman of the Dewsbury association.

It warned the Prime Minister that pollsters had estimated Conservative support for gay marriage could cost the party 1.3 million votes.

The letter said: “The Bill is dividing and weakening the Conservative Party both in Parliament and in the country.

“Therefore Prime Minister, for the sake of the wellbeing of the country and the integrity and future success of the party we urge you not to continue with your policy of re-defining marriage.”

While the last time the Commons voted on the Bill in February it was passed by a comfortable margin, it was opposed by 136 Tory MPs.

It is expected to face further opposition from Conservatives today as the party continues to deal with the fallout from last week’s move by backbenchers to force a vote on an amendment to the Queen’s Speech on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

Lord Howe, whose differences with Baroness Thatcher over Europe led to his resignation and triggered her eventual downfall, yesterday became the latest Tory heavyweight to wade into the row.

He said the dispute over the lack of legislation paving the way for the Prime Minister’s referendum by 2017, which led to a total of 116 Tories opposing the Government’s legislative programme, marked a “new, almost farcical, low” for the party.

He said: “Sadly, by making it clear in January that he opposes the current terms of UK membership of the EU, the Prime Minister has opened a Pandora’s box politically and seems to be losing control of his party in the process.

“The ratchet-effect of Euroscepticism has now gone so far that the Conservative leadership is in effect running scared of its own backbenchers, let alone Ukip, having allowed deep anti-Europeanism to infect the very soul of the party.

“The risk now is that, if it loses the next general election – a far from negligible possibility – the Conservative Party will move to a position of simply opposing Britain’s continued membership, with or without a referendum.”

Lord Howe said that leaving the EU would represent “the humbling of our ambitions, already sorely tested by the current crisis, to remain a serious political or economic player on the global stage”.

He added: “Last week has shown that the Conservative Party’s long, nervous breakdown over Europe continues and what is essentially a Tory problem is now, once again, becoming a national problem.”

Ukip is seen as being the major beneficiaries of the Conservatives’ woes. Over the weekend an Opinium poll put Nigel Farage’s party on 20 per cent, while a ComRes survey put them on 19 per cent.